Prince Philip’s death reminds us that the future of the monarchy is far from assured
The Duke was a skilled practitioner with a devotion to public service. His passing leaves a cherished institution more exposed than ever
Prospect
April 9, 2021
Image: Michael Dunlea / Alamy Stock Photo
The Duke of Edinburgh has died at the age of 99. The man who has been synonymous for decades with a single-minded dedication to public service, racking up over 20,000 appearances by himself and thousands more with his family, did not quite make it to his century. He therefore missed out on the unique experience of being sent a telegram of congratulations on his hundredth birthday by his wife. And as the royal commentators take to the papers and television studios to trot out their usual platitudes and well-hewn anecdotes, a nation anticipates the most high-profile funeral of a member of the Royal Family since the Queen Mother’s in 2002. This time, it will come complete with added social distancing.
Yet once that event has passed, with its attendant cascades of mawkish sentimentality, a question will be asked out loud that has only been whispered in recent years. The British monarchy has often seemed to be an ever-fixèd mark, occasionally buffeted and worried by the scourges of fashion and opinion, but never seriously challenged. Its longevity and popularity owe as much to a tightly run public relations department and an unwavering focus by the Mountbatten-Windsor clan on a simple narrative, attractively told, as it does to any genuine sense of royalist fervour in the hearts of its subjects.
This is a testament to its practitioners and above all its patriarch, who might have walked his allotted number of paces behind the Queen in his role as consort, but led the way elsewhere. Prince Philip was as responsible for the modern-day Royal Family as anyone else. Not bad for a man who once called himself “a discredited Balkan prince of no particular merit or distinction.” It was he who epitomised the unofficial family motto “never complain, never explain,” seeking to instil it in both his children and grandchildren. It is a motto that has been tested to destruction (though in very varied ways), firstly by his daughter-in-law Diana, then by his son Prince Andrew, and now, perhaps most notoriously of all, by his grandson Harry and his wife Meghan.
Yet none of them have posed an existential threat to the continued existence of the monarchy. This is because the popularity of the institution remains greater than that of any of its individual members, with the exception of the monarch herself. But the newly widowed Queen is a 94-year-old woman. She cannot live forever, even if some sentimental and patriotic elements might wish her to. And when she dies, the question of whether republicanism in Britain could succeed will be raised again.
When the Duke of Edinburgh talked about his views on the subject in Canada in 1969, he spoke with surprising nuance. He said “It is a complete misconception to imagine that the monarchy exists in the interests of the monarch. It doesn’t. It exists in the interests of the people. If at any time any nation decides that the system is unacceptable, then it is up to them to change it.” Over half a century later, his spouse remains that country’s monarch, indicating that the majority of its inhabitants have no desire to bring about this change, any more than those in Britain do.
Yet the long-term future of the monarchy remains uncertain. Opinion polls asking whether the public would prefer Prince Charles or Prince William to inherit the throne usually suggest a preference for the latter, often a decisive one.
Courtiers believe that the moment of maximum danger for the monarchy will come during the vacuum between the death of Elizabeth II and the coronation of her son, when mischief-makers might make their voices heard. While there has been no serious suggestion that Brian, as Private Eye irreverently dubs Charles, is likely to follow in the footsteps of his great-uncle Edward VIII and abdicate in favour of his son, he and those around him are aware that he lacks both his mother’s popularity and his father’s ability to maintain the status quo with energy and determination, naysayers be damned.
Despite his innate conservatism, Prince Philip was intelligent enough to realise that the Royal Family could not continue to receive respect simply as their due, but had to earn their substantial livings. Hence the endless, gruelling decades of handshaking and ribbon-cutting and speech-making, in which he led by vigorous example. While the Queen was, and remains, undeniably the head of “the Firm,” her husband was the indomitable second-in-command, ever ready with a quip or caustic comment, but dedicated both to his wife and to the ideals and principles upon which she has conducted her reign.
When the Duke of Edinburgh was asked whether he thought that the awards scheme that bore his name was likely to be his legacy, he barked “Legacy? … It’s got nothing to do with me. It’s there for people to use. I couldn’t care less.” It is difficult to assess what his ultimate bequest to posterity as the Queen’s consort will be. As a younger man he was regarded as a dashing yet gruff presence, captured for us in the fictional portrayal in The Crown by the actors Matt Smith and Tobias Menzies. He was happiest when allowed to enjoy manly pursuits and frustrated by the rigmarole of pageantry.
But he has also been pilloried (and celebrated) for decades of self-consciously un-PC remarks, and an unbending dedication to protocol that notoriously led him to persuade, or order, his grandchildren to walk behind their mother’s coffin before her funeral. It was unsurprising that when the Duke and Duchess of Sussex revealed during their interview with Oprah Winfrey that a senior member of the Royal Family had made supposedly racist remarks, that suspicion immediately turned to a man who once asked an Aboriginal Australian whether he was still throwing spears. Harry later confirmed that he had not been referring to his grandfather, but the damage was done.
Now is not a time for recrimination or for criticism. Much-publicised feuds within the Royal Family will now be ostentatiously suspended, and fond stories of Prince Philip will dominate the news cycle for days now. Earth, receive an honoured guest. But his tough, domineering absence from the Firm will undoubtedly be felt over the coming years. It is hard not to suspect that the Royal Family has lost perhaps its most able and energetic advocate, and that its continued existence is now slightly less certain.