The Wit and Humour of Prince Philip


If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
He isn't trying to be mean. It is just his sense of humor. A few months ago I read that he mentioned something that sounded offensive to deaf people. When Philip was reminded about the comment, he mentioned that his mother was actually quite deaf and that he wouldn't ever make fun of it.

The point is...he's KIDDING! :lol::lol:
 
Obviously, people vary in their sense of humor. I can certain attest that not every orphan finds his orphan comments humorous, nor does every Russian find his Russian statement humorous and so on.

He is what he is. The Brits find him humorous, apparently, and that's his main gig - he's a British royal.

It seems it's funny mostly because it's cheeky and he can get away with it (symbolic of how he can get away with anything, which is a strong theme in the humor of many nations).

His humor does nothing for me (and I know lots of 90 somethings, myself, and I understand they have a different sense of humor). I like the word "gaffes" for what he does. It's interesting to me that he doesn't seem to see his appearances as "work," as here in America, when at work, such jokes are completely off limits. It's an interesting window into what it means to be a Royal.

He's obviously having a good time at it, and doesn't care what others think. I have an ex-husband who is a great deal the same way.
 
Oh, and just to clarify, when Prince Philip says the Russian bastards slaughtered his family, he means his German family, correct? So, despite the fact that Russia came to Britain's aid in WW2, he still holds a grudge. Or is he speaking of some other slaughter?

Given how many Russians were slaughtered in the 20th century, particularly by Germans, it's an interesting "joke" to make. I am starting to see why he riles up my Russian family members though, living in America, I wasn't understanding it. We rarely hear anything he says out here in the American west!
 
Oh, and just to clarify, when Prince Philip says the Russian bastards slaughtered his family, he means his German family, correct? So, despite the fact that Russia came to Britain's aid in WW2, he still holds a grudge. Or is he speaking of some other slaughter?

Given how many Russians were slaughtered in the 20th century, particularly by Germans, it's an interesting "joke" to make. I am starting to see why he riles up my Russian family members though, living in America, I wasn't understanding it. We rarely hear anything he says out here in the American west!

When did he say this so called Russian joke?
And Russia came into WW2 for it's own reasons it had nothing to do with coming to Britains aid. But that doesn't belong here.
He could be counting the Russian Royals as his family.
 
Oh, and just to clarify, when Prince Philip says the Russian bastards slaughtered his family, he means his German family, correct? So, despite the fact that Russia came to Britain's aid in WW2, he still holds a grudge. Or is he speaking of some other slaughter?


He is referring to the murders of the Romanovs - his Russian relatives.

Nicholas II was his father's first cousin. Philip's paternal grandfather, George I of the Hellenes, was the younger brother of Nicholas II's mother. George I of the Hellenes, The Empress Marie Feodorvna (Nicholas' II mother) and Britain's Queen Alexandra (George V's mother) were all children of Christian IX of Denmark.

Christian - William (George I) - Andrew - Philip
Christian - Dagmar (Marie Feodorovna) - Nicholas II

Alexandra was his mother' aunt. Alexandra was the youngest sister of Philip's maternal grandmother, Victoria. Alexandra's sister, Elizabeth, was also murdered by the Bolsheviks and that was another great-aunt of Philip's. Alexandra's mother was Queen Victoria's second daughter, Princess Alice. The eldest of Princess Alice's daughters was also named Victoria and that second Victoria was the mother of both Philip's mother, Alice and Lord Mountbatten. It was from her apartment at KP that Philip left for his wedding in 1947.

Victoria - Alice - Alexandra
Victoria - Alice - Victorian - Alice - Philip

Add to that his paternal grandmother was Grand Duchess Olga Constantinovich - a granddaughter of Nicholas I and thus a first cousin to Alexander III (who was also her brother-in-law). Alexander III married Dagmar of Denmark (Marie Feodorovna) and the parents of Nicholas II.

Olga married George I of the Hellenes - Andrew - Philip

Philip's DNA was used to identify the Romanov remains due to this close blood relationship to the murdered royal family.

Russia, or more correctly the USSR, entered WWII because they were attacked by the Germans and for no other reason. They sided with the Germans from 1939 - 1941 in dividing Poland and supplying German with war materials as arranged under the Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact. Stalin actually ignored British intelligence about the preparations the Germans were making for the invasion of the USSR and they gave no aid to Britain when Britain and the Empire stood alone against the Nazis.
 
Last edited:
Ooooooooo, DoE would just LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it if he knew how long the puddin' had been stirred here!
 
:previous: Agreed! It seems that severe humour failure and political correctness reign supreme these days! :D
 
I appreciate all the clarification about Prince Philip's referring to his fractional heritage of Romanov blood, rather than to the rest of his heritage - although his own Romanov great-grandfather was left unmolested by the assassins (which is why I didn't immediately understand the reference; his own great grandfather was a liberal and considered to be of covert support for the revolutionaries - so I see this as an example of a house divided, rather than of "Russian bastards" doing something).

I am "getting" Prince Philip's sense of humor better through your explanations (but I don't need a history of World War II, nor will I ever espouse single cause theories of warfare - I'm more Tolstoyan in my views). I read and wrote his jokes to a number of Russians today - and they got it, and thought it was funny. Russians also like biting humor (I do too, I just didn't understand the context of all of HRH's jokes).

Now I see his role as definitely partly court jokester (especially his jokes about the "family business" and how the woman is in charge of it). If he can make the Queen smile, that's a good thing. Still, we Americans would find it difficult to fully savor such humor from someone on the public payroll (we are still thoroughly non-monarchical in that way).

Today's reading on these forums have left me pondering the effects of British public opinion; Prince Philip is jovial and avuncular, with a British sense of humor; future Princess Catherine had better get a job or else the people will turn against her (and the Queen will admonish her?) I see why people say the Royals in Britain have no real power (although, financially, they must, certainly, as the finances of a place like the Duchy of Cornwall make it clear that the Crown's financial power is not small).

The PR power is there, too. Someone said (I believe on a thread about Prince William) that the British are insular in their humor and viewpoints, which endears them to each other and unites them; so if the Royals promote such unity (and provides outlet for expression of certain divisions as well) for Britain, their role in British life is much clearer to me. And that's powerful, as we have no such force in America. I do not believe Russia has such a force either. People fear Putin (and sometimes admire him) but they are not united by his sense of humor (although seriously, his antics with his sportsmanship and body display have certainly appealed rather broadly, but I don't think Putin was being humorous, he was serious about thinking himself studly).
 
I appreciate all the clarification about Prince Philip's referring to his fractional heritage of Romanov blood, rather than to the rest of his heritage - although his own Romanov great-grandfather was left unmolested by the assassins (which is why I didn't immediately understand the reference; his own great grandfather was a liberal and considered to be of covert support for the revolutionaries - so I see this as an example of a house divided, rather than of "Russian bastards" doing something).

To which great-grandfather are you referring?

All four of Philip's great-grandfather's were dead by the time of the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917 and only one of them even saw Nicholas become Tsar.

Prince Philip’s great-grandfathers:
Christian IX of Denmark died 1906 - his paternal grandfather's father
Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich of Russia died 1892 - his paternal grandmother's father
Prince Alexander of Hesse and by Rhine died in 1888 - his maternal grandfather's father
Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hesse died in 1892 - his maternal grandfather's father.

Of his two grandfathers George I of the Hellenes was assassinated in Greece in 1913 and Prince Louise of Battenburg was forced to resign from his position within the British naval establishment in 1914 due to being of German origin although he continued to live in Germany and died in 1922 - a year after Philip's birth.

His four great-grandmothers were also all dead before the Russian Revolution in 1917 and only one of them lived into the 20th Century at all - Princess Alexandra of Saxe-Altenburg who died in 1913 - before the revolution.
 
Last edited:
I was referring to the Romanov, Konstantin, as the subject of the brief conversation was which of Philip's family the Russian bastards killed. (I believe the quote was "half my family," but I see now how deftly the DoE uses hyperbole.

I never think of the DoE as of British ancestry, particularly.

I understand he was joking. (Unless the Russians sneaked into Greece and are responsible for the death of George I...but even then, it's not "half" of his ancestors.) That's why it's funny, right - it didn't really happen!

Truly, I think by now the DoE must feel as if he is a global citizen, he's related to so many people by blood or by marriage. But then, many of us are. He simply has an acerbic style of humor (by now I've read those jokes to even more people and most people found them very funny, as I said, several were Russian, some were Hawaiian, and the only person who didn't laugh is a good friend of mine who is Greek, but her husband thought they were very funny).
 
My two cents for what they are worth-
Some comments I get, some I do not. Some I find funny some I do not.
The impression I have of Prince Phillip is that he does not say these things with a malice intent. It comes off that way from time to time, due to poor choice of words.
Some comments I find offensive, but I think he sometimes has valid points, he just does not have a good sense of timing and vocabulary to express them.
BTW, his orphans quip was not amusing. Same with his quips about people of other races and cultures.

I do find it refreshing that Phillip is human enough to let the tongue slip now and again like the rest of us.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I have never regarded the comment about the 'bastards' killing his family as a joke as he was stating a fact - they Bolsheviks killed many of his family (half might be an exaggeration but they certainly killed a large number of his family). His maternal grandmother would have raised him with many stories of her sisters - both of whom were murdered by the Bolsheviks. He had relatives from both sides of his family murdered - I don't see that as anything to joke about.

I do see him as British considering his mother was born in Windsor Castle, as was his grandmother. His great-grandmother was born in BP and his great-great grandmother was born in KP. He has ancestors born in Britain for many generations back to the early Georges and then the gap back to James I before having centuries again with at least one British born ancestor.

He was also raised mainly in Britain.

He has foreign born ancestors (but outside of Europe most of us do) but he also has masses of British born ancestors, and was born in Greece of course. He, himself, regarded himself as British from an early age due to living there and having so many relatives living there, especially with a grandmother living at Kensington Palace.

You stated that one of his 'great-grandfathers' was allowed to live by the Bolsheviks but you have never told me which one managed to do that as they were all dead. The Konstantin who was the liberal was his grandmother's older brother not his great-grandfather. One relative not murdered and a fairly distant one at that doesn't reduce the fact that his living Russian relatives were murdered by the Bolsheviks, including his parents' aunts and cousins - close relatives.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
If he meant Bolsheviks, he might have said so (rather than say Russians, as if most Russians had anything to do with it). He generalized to the whole population from a small (and vicious political movement). Had someone done the reverse to him (and his family), it probably wouldn't have seemed amusing to him.

His parents' aunts would be his grand-aunts (makes it easier for me to understand the relationship if I use the American kin terms; don't know if they're used elsewhere). So he had aunts on both sides that were killed by Bolsheviks? So did members of my family (who are Russian), but they would never call their own people "bastards." That's my point. Presumably, it was his first cousins? Same with my family.

And then more murdered under Stalin. But they still wouldn't refer to themselves as "bastards," or the Russian equivalent (govnuk, sp?) or whatever it would be. I think there's an "us vs. them" mentality in the "Russian bastards" statement. His family was as Russian as any of the "bastards" who killed them; and revolutions/killings have happened in many different lands - why nationalize it?

He was born on Corfu, a place very protected from the Bolsheviks in 1921. Some people experience the death of relatives right in front of them, or relatives that are torn right out of their arms. Indeed, I scarcely know anyone who hasn't had numerous family members killed in WW1 and 2 - it's not just Prince Philip.

But I would never characterize the entire nation that killed them as "bastards." But, it's interesting that his humor leads people to remember these bad times and these enmities.

Still, as I said, Russians I know laughed. But, if I were to mention a certain nationality as having murdered some of my ancestors, here or on most internet boards, it would be considered rude, not funny. And I certainly could mention such a nationality.

One probably had to be there (to get the DoE's joke). God bless him, he's certainly a one off.
 
But, if I were to mention a certain nationality as having murdered some of my ancestors, here or on most internet boards, it would be considered rude, not funny. And I certainly could mention such a nationality.

One probably had to be there (to get the DoE's joke). God bless him, he's certainly a one off.

I believe it's a left-over from his upbringing in a time when nation, nationality and tribal ancestry (if I may say so, coming from the country I come from :flowers: ) mattered much more than it does to day. For someone who fought in WWII this is certainly no foreign concept, but political correctness often is....:whistling:
 
Well, certainly his great aunts and second cousins (etc.) were killed by Bolsheviks. Fortunately, his family seems to have escaped Stalin's purges.

What interests me tonight, though, is his comment about the cooking of English women, about which I have several questions that I'm trying to find the proper thread to post upon.
 
Duke of Edinburgh admits: 'bits beginning to drop off ancient frame' - Telegraph

He has refused to allow his age to affect his energetic lifestyle, but as he approaches his 90th birthday, the Duke of Edinburgh has admitted that “bits are beginning to drop off” as the advancing years finally take their toll.

In a self-effacing letter to the organisers of an awards ceremony to celebrate the achievements of the elderly, the Duke admitted that time is passing “ever more quickly” as he prepares to enter his tenth decade, with the inevitable effect on his “morale”.
 
He is so admirable in his approach to these last years. It's too bad people rely so much on psychological theory and less on example.
 
Prince Philip's 'Gaffes'

Whilst on a tour of a factory in northern England, Prince Philip pointed out a fuse box that looked quite old. He said "It looks like it was made by an Indian"

When talking to some British students in China, he joked with them "you shouldn't stay here too long, or you'll turn slitty-eyed"

During the 1981 recession he said, "Everybody was saying we must have more leisure. Now they're complaining they're unemployed."

On being introduced to the chairman of Britain's Channel 4, HRH said, "So YOU'RE responsible for the kind of crap channel 4 produces."

On Sarah Ferguson he said, "Her behavior was a bit odd. I don't see her because I do not see much point."

In 1967, he was asked to go to Russia to improve diplomatic relations with Britain and the USSR. He said, "Are you bloody mad? The bastards murdered half my family."

Whilst speaking to the World Wildlife Fund he said, "If it has four legs and it's not a chair, if it has two wings and it flies but it's not an airplane, and if it swims and it's not a submarine, the Cantonese will eat it."

In Canada, someone asked him why he had bothered to come, HRH said "We don't come here for our health. We can think of other ways of enjoying ourselves."

He then said, "British women can't cook"

He asked Sir Tom Jones, "What do you gargle with - pebbles" after the Royal Variety Performance.

In Budapest in 1993, he said to a Briton, "You can't have been here that long - you haven't got a pot belly."

In Scotland in 1995 at a Driving School he said, "How do you keep the natives off the booze long enough to get them through the test?"

When it was suggested all guns were banned after the Dunblane shooting he said, "If a cricketer, for instance, suddenly decided to go into a school and batter a lot of people to death with a cricket bat, which he could do very easily, I mean, are you going to ban cricket bats?"

At a reception in 1998, a student told Prince Philip that he had been trekking in Papua New Guinea. The Prince replied, "You managed not to get eaten, then?"

In Australia in 2002, he said to an Aboriginee, "Do you still throw spears at each other?"

On the Jubilee tour in 2002 he said, "If you travel as much as we do you appreciate how much more comfortable aircraft have become. Unless you travel in something called economy class, which sounds ghastly.."

He also said, "The problem with London is the tourists. They cause the congestion. If we could just stop tourism we could stop the congestion.."

-------------------------------------

Now, I find all of the above amusing or actually intelligent. I think that the British find him amusing. Our humour is quite select and we find him funny. But foreigners don't and it's usually the foreigners who make the biggest deal out of what he says. His comments aren't racist, sexist or cruel - they are funny and I think that's how he intends them to be taken.

Priceless!!! And not at all offensive to me either.... rather sounds like something my father would say!
Thanks for the laughs!
 
Why should Prince Philip be politically correct? Why should any of us? I'm certainly not and bally well proud of it.
Amen!!
That's what's wrong with the world today.... politically correct & can't offend someone... HOGWASH
 
Philip's comments are on the record. They are not second or third hand versions from unknown sources. Many of these comments are offensive - whoever says them, royal or not. He gets away with it because he goes up to the edge of what he is allowed to say. He is undoubtedly a public voice for the Windsors. He says the kind of thing that Elizabeth and their children cannot - often mildly prejudicial and racialist. The Queen undoubtedly approves and they must have a great deal of amusement when they get home and talk about the people they meet - some truly awful individuals, some who are awed by the presence of royals and dont know what to say, some reasonable people (military and aristoracy). Philip is the official spokesman of the Windsors.
 
rob2008 said:
The Queen undoubtedly approves. Philip is the official spokesman of the Windsors.

1; How do you know the Queen approves?
2; The Queen is the official spokes person not Phillip.
 
1; How do you know the Queen approves?
2; The Queen is the official spokes person not Phillip.

He wouldn't do it if she disapproved.

HM never expresses a personal opinion officially. L'état, c'est elle.
 
He wouldn't do it if she disapproved.

HM never expresses a personal opinion officially. L'état, c'est elle.

Again, how do you know that he wouldn't do it if she disapproves? I doubt Prince Phillip plans to say these things in public, it's accidental.
HM is still the spokesperson of the BRF, not Prince Phillip.
 
I don't think Prince Philip would really care if his wife 'approves' of what he says.
 
I have to admit, I find some of Prince Philip's gaffes very funny. And I appreciate his humor. My father's near the same age and says some pretty off the wall things but he's funny.
 
Prince Philip's 'Gaffes'
On being introduced to the chairman of Britain's Channel 4, HRH said, "So YOU'RE responsible for the kind of crap channel 4 produces."
What he said to the Channel 4 chairman is my favorite!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Philip is the only real legitimate outlet that the Windsors have to communicate directly with their public. Occassionally Anne's outbursts demonstrates to us the private orthodox thinking about life "out there" from within. Philip is the Court Jester who is permitted to say what the family really thinks.
 
I think rather what he really thinks. Its his personality, at times I think some family members wish he would shut up but he doesnt while others envy him for being able to speak up and are glad that he does.

Philip is in the position to do what he wants in that respect, he is not the monarch and due to his life achievements nobody will seriously stamp on him.

But thats only him, the politically incorrect relict he is. No other member of the BRF will get away with being a Philip, time has changed and for the new generation new rules will apply. They will have to walk the line if they want to survive.
 
Back
Top Bottom