Prince Philip broke royal protocol over apartheid in South Africa

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Today, the Duke of Edinburgh will be remembered in a lavish service at Westminster Abbey, following his death at the age of 99 last year. As a result of restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic, only those closest to Philip, including the likes of his grandsons Prince William and Prince Harry, and his wife the Queen, were able to attend. But in what is expected to be a moving ceremony to remember his life, more than 700 people will take part in the celebration of Prince Philip.

Despite reports regarding her health, the Queen, 95, will also attend the service, as well as Prince Andrew.

While the world mourned Philip and his contribution to public life, his health had been a mainstay of the media for years, and he himself regularly spoke about growing older in the decades before.

This included in the 2004 book he wrote, entitled 30 Years On and Off the Box Seat, in which he discussed his passion for horses and carriage driving.

He wrote: “I am getting old, my reactions are getting slower, and my memory is unreliable, but I have never lost the sheer pleasure of driving a team through the British countryside.

“I have been fortunate to have had a longer innings than most, and I have no intention of giving up while I have a team of willing ponies and dedicated staff and while I can still cope with the challenges which carriage driving presents me with.

“What happens next is anyone’s guess.”

Philip first took an interest in carriage-driving in his fifties when an injury forced him to stop playing polo.

Other interests that were intriguing to Philip throughout his life included the environment, a passion shared with his eldest son Prince Charles.

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In 2020, Charles waded into a row over climate change on BBC Radio 4, claiming the issue was “too important to be left to farmers”, a quip that infuriated many in the industry.

He claimed that some farmers “overuse of antibiotics, the overuse of growth-promoting hormones in beef production,” something that will leave nature “ending up in tears if it went too far”.

He argued that these “convention techniques” were severely damaging for the climate, and would ultimately see nature ruined if it continued.

Charles’ grim prediction that there “would be no tomorrow” if the practices weren’t stopped, were concluded with the demand that “the polluter should pay” for damage caused to the environment.

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This was a view shared by Philip, who for most of his long reign by the Queen’s side has been vocal in his opposition to methods employed by farmers.

Writing in 2017’s The Wicked Wit of Prince Philip, royal author Karen Dolby revealed how Philip told a farming magazine the industry should not be left to just farmers.

His critique of techniques was also present during a Shooting Times interview, when Philip said farmers were “constantly trying to produce cattle, that will produce more milk and less cow”, before likening their wishes to “a hat rack, with an udder attached”.

In 2009, Philip said: “They can’t really go on making such a travesty of an animal, there must be a limit to this.

“Even more ridiculous is the fact that milk is actually cheaper than bottled water. It seems quite bizarre to me.”

He also argued during ITV’s documentary ‘The Duke: A Portrait of Prince Philip’ that there was no “absolute certainty that modern farming is quite as useful as it sounds”, adding: “You have got to be emotionally committed to it – but if you stand back and be open minded about it, it is quite difficult to really find where it has been a real benefit.”

Although both Charles and Philip have been forthright in their opinions, agriculture is at the heart of Royal Family life, with the Prince of Wales’ son Prince William an avid fan of farming.

He described his family’s “passion” for the industry and how his son George is “obsessed” with tractors and farming.

And he spoke about this fascination last year when he appeared on Prince Charles: 50 Years a Prince, which saw William detail his excitement at one day inheriting his father’s Duchy of Cornwall.

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