Prince Philip: Iain Duncan Smith recalls Duke's sense of humour

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Former Black Rod David Leakey revealed the time he got stuck in a small lift with the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh. He said the senior royals burst out laughing as the elevator in the House of Lords went up instead of down. Speaking to Times Radio, Mr Leakey said: “I got in the lift and what could possibly go wrong, I turned the key in the lock and I pressed G for ground and doors slid silently too.

“You know how it is with lifts, just as they go they always give a little jerk and then they set off.

“The lift gave a little jerk but instead of going down, it went up.

“We went up and the lift stopped at the next floor. The doors slid open and fortunately, nobody was there.

“As we had been going up the Queen and the Duke of the Edinburgh looked quizically at me and said, ‘Black Rod, what is going on here?’

“And I said, ‘Sir, we’re going up when we should be going down but I’m sure we can put this right in the moment’.

“And the Queen said, ‘where are we?’ and I said ‘we’re in the middle of the Victoria Tower at one end of the House of Lords’.

Mr Leakey explained after the door closed, the lift continued to go up which made the Queen and Duke “burst into laughter”.

The former Parliament officials said Prince Philip further tried to defuse the tension the mishap created by asking questions about the tower, inquiring about the most interesting information about the location.

Prince Philip: Patrick Harvie discusses royal

The Queen has described the death of her husband the Duke of Edinburgh as “having left a huge void in her life”.

The Duke of York revealed the personal feelings of his mother after attending a church service where members of the royal family said prayers for Philip as the nation remembered him.

Andrew described the death of his father as resonating with many people, saying: “We’ve lost almost the grandfather of the nation.”

His brother the Earl of Wessex said Philip’s death was a “dreadful shock” and the family was still “trying to come to terms with that”.

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The Countess of Wessex candidly described the circumstances of Philip’s death as “very peaceful” when she chatted to a member of the congregation, saying it was as if “somebody took him by the hand and off he went”.

Later, the Princess Royal paid her own tribute, describing her father as “my teacher, my supporter and my critic”.

Andrew said members of the family have been rallying round to support the Queen as she deals with the death of her partner of more than 70 years.

The Duke of York was joined at the Royal Chapel of All Saints at Royal Lodge, Windsor, by the Earl and Countess of Wessex and their daughter Lady Louise Windsor for a Sunday service.

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