PRINCE Philip “did more trying to save Charles’ marriage to Diana than his son”, according to former Royal butler Paul Burrell.
The Duke of Edinburgh, who died yesterday aged 99, famously acted as a father figure to Diana, who affectionately called him “dearest pa”.
Read our live blog for the very latest news on Prince Philip’s death…
He’s said to have encouraged Prince Charles to propose to Princess Diana, after taking a shine to her at Balmoral in 1981, with a partially fictionalised account of their friendship playing out in the recent series of The Crown.
Charles’ dad then acted as a self-confessed “marriage counsellor” to the unhappy couple until they officially separated in December 1992, writing a series of touching letters to his daughter-in-law.
“Prince Philip probably did more to save the marriage than Prince Charles, even if he wore steelworkers gloves for a situation that required kid mittens,” Paul told the Mirror.
Philip later drifted from Diana, whose behaviour he felt was damaging to the monarchy.
But years later, the caring grandfather was credited with taking a young Harry and William under his wing, following the death of their mother in 1997.
When William was hesitant to walk behind his mother’s coffin at the funeral, Philip asked: “If I walk, will you walk with me?”
Philip also became close to Sarah Ferguson during her marriage to Prince Andrew.
But the pair fell out after now infamous pictures of Fergie having her toes sucked by Texan billionaire John Bryan on a yacht emerged in 1992.
They went 26 years without meeting, with Fergie’s trips to Balmoral carefully timed to avoid the Duke, until they reunited at Princess Eugenie’s wedding to Jack Brooksbank in 2018.
For more on Philip’s touching relationship with his daughter-in-laws, read this piece by Royal expert Ingrid Seward.
