Biographies of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh

[love_cc]

Have anyone read this book about Prince Philip written by Graham Turner?I think it is published around the birthday of Prince Philip at 80. I cannot find it anywhere. This book caused some problem but it revealed some deep problems between Prince Philip and Prince Charles. I do want to hear some opinions about this book.

I hope that I can find it one day.

[royaltywatcher]

Did someone actually write a book about this man? I'm not surprised you can't find it anywhere. I'm a royalty fan, but I can't imagine anyone caring a whit about Prince Philip.

[Avalon]

Love_cc, you can read information about the book here.

royaltywatcher, there are quite a few books about Prince Philip and he does deserve them. All these years he has been someone the Queen could always count on, and excellent Consort and quite a fascinating person, in my opinion.
Other books on Prince Philip include (among many others) Consort, the life and times of Prince Philip by Graham Fisher, The Wit of Prince Philip by Peter Butler, HRH Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh by Dean John and Prince Philip, First Gentleman of the Realm by Douglas Liversidge.

[Warren]

Another good read is "Philip - An Informal Biography" by Basil Boothroyd, 1971, which has a good emphasis on the Greek/Hessian/Battenberg background.

[Skydragon]

Originally Posted by love_cc

This book caused some problem but it revealed some deep problems between Prince Philip and Prince Charles. I do want to hear some opinions about this book. .

With regard to his perceived problems with his son, I think it is a case of a generation gap that many fathers seem unable to close, especially in the upper classes. Most parents want their children to do better than they did at everything, but many of them are unable to see what they did and want, might not be the right thing. Each child shines in his/her own way.
Philip has, as far as we know, been a good husband, he has his own brand of wit, which is not always a good thing for the spouse of the monarch. Sadly, he still seems to be part of the 'well I had it hard sonny and it never did me any harm' brigade.

[selrahc4]

Philip: A Portrait of the Duke of Edinburgh
by Tim Heald

Is also a very good biography of the Duke

Hardcover: 274 pages
Publisher: William Morrow & Co (Nov 1991)
Language English
ISBN-10: 0688101992
ISBN-13: 978-0688101992

[love_cc]

Thanks everyone for the information and the link.
I have read some extract about the book from Highbeam research link.
The problem betwen Prince Phillip and Prince Charles is a matter of two opposite characters. Unfortunate neither of them is patient as well. But they two have best intentions in heart but they are unable to communicate with each other. Anyway, all my wishes are that BRF will unite each other to preserve the monarchy.

[Elspeth]

It's sort of interesting that such a recent book is so unavailable. I've looked on several second-hand-book websites and can't find it. I wonder if it was so unflattering to the Duke that he and his friends bought up every spare copy they could find and burned them.

[selrahc4]

Originally Posted by Elspeth

It's sort of interesting that such a recent book is so unavailable. I've looked on several second-hand-book websites and can't find it. I wonder if it was so unflattering to the Duke that he and his friends bought up every spare copy they could find and burned them.

Elspeth, a book biography of Prince Philip by Graham Turner was never published. That's why it can't be found. I don't know if one was ever actually intended or whether they confused it with the book he published soon after about the Queen. Turner did have published a long biographical newspaper article about the Prince around the time the reference was published. He used quite a bit of the research and information in that article which was also later part of his biographical book about the Queen (published in 2002, I believe, at the time of her golden jubilee).

[Elspeth]

Well, I guess if it was never published, that would be a good reason why it doesn't exist. Thanks for clearing that up! Did you read his book about the Queen? I was thinking of getting a copy, but I've got rather a major book backlog at the moment so I was trying to be restrained.

[selrahc4]

Originally Posted by Elspeth

Well, I guess if it was never published, that would be a good reason why it doesn't exist. Thanks for clearing that up! Did you read his book about the Queen? I was thinking of getting a copy, but I've got rather a major book backlog at the moment so I was trying to be restrained.

Yes, I have the book and have read it. There were so many that came out around the same time (2001-2002), and although this one is good, there were a couple of others that I thought were better. However, if you are a big EII fan, then you'll want to own this one AND all the others (backlog be damned, I say! ).

[love_cc]

Thanks for claring the matter, Selrahc4. It was probably a good idea not to publish this book without the consent of Prince Philip himself as long as I think the materials are too damaged to reopen the rift between father and so which would have caused great damages to the monachy itself. I recalled Prince Charles' reactions from the news at that time and he was furious about what has been reported in the highlights of the unpublished book.

[selrahc4]

Originally Posted by love_cc

Thanks for claring the matter, Selrahc4. It was probably a good idea not to publish this book without the consent of Prince Philip himself as long as I think the materials are too damaged to reopen the rift between father and so which would have caused great damages to the monachy itself. I recalled Prince Charles' reactions from the news at that time and he was furious about what has been reported in the highlights of the unpublished book.

As far as I know, there was no book about Prince Philip written at all, let alone kept from being published. Turner was working on a biography of the Queen. He used some of that material in a newspaper article about Prince Philip. That material was also used in the biography of the Queen which was published. That book was the one that DID give views about the relationship of Charles with his parents which supposedly generated the reaction you mention.

[norwegianne]

Published 1991. 263 p.

I've been interested in reading more about Prince Philip for quite some time now - and while I thought Gyles Brandreth's book Philip and Elizabeth: Portrait of a marriage was very interesting - I wanted something more. I'm not sure if this book by Tim Heald was what I was looking for, but after reading it I feel satisfied with what I've read, with a few minor exceptions.

I think that it is interesting that Heald have chosen to bring along sources that he personally find to be dubious, such as Crawford's accounting of events, or Philip's cousin Alexandra of Yugoslavia. He states that [paraphrased] while these sources have been decorated on, they still may contain some grain of truth from time to time. I also thought it amusing how the Duke countered a lot of the statements he was asked to comment on, and told the author that he'd never been there, and he didn't remember it like that... and so on.

In a way I think Hugo Vickers' biography on Princess Andrew of Greece, Prince Philip's mother, is a more interesting read - both in the fluency in which it is written, and the fact that the author writes more objectively. What I do find admirable in this book is the fact that the author has tried to take up both negative and positive sides of his subject. The emphasis being on has tried - given that it was supposed to be read through by the Palace, I doubt he's taken up some things.

What I find surprising, is that the only one of Philip's children who contributed was the Princess Royal. Certainly, it is rumoured that she has the closest relationship with him of the children, but I can't help but feel that the picture would be a bit more nuanced with the others chiming in as well. As for the grandchildren - aside from a picture at the end, they're hardly mentioned at all. Heald has focused on the Duke with his work, and less on the personal family life.

A conflict with Brandreth's book, as far as I can recall, is that it was mentioned there as well as in this book by Philip's friends that he never had a home growing up - which Philip himself disputes in this book, which was published before Brandreth's. (Heald has a kick in Brandreth's direction once or twice, by the way.)

Last tidbit that I found interesting: One of the enemy ships that he faced early in WWII was called Zara. Approx. 40 years later, his granddaughter was given the same name.

All in all, an interesting read, but I wouldn't say particularly well written.

[norwegianne]

I got this book from the library - and am reading it now. It's an interesting read. It also seem to use a lot of first-hand sources in terms of letters to/from the people in question. There is over 30 pages of notes at the end indicating where the various statements are from.

The author also apparently learnt Danish to be able to do proper research in Danish archives.

Anyone else read it?

[GlitteringTiaras]

Yes, I've read it.

[Pranter]

Recently read this book about Prince Phillip:

Prince Phillip: The Turbulent Early Life of the Man who married Queen Elizabeth II by Phillip Eade


Found it to be very interesting...anyone else read it?

[cepe]

Is that an authorised biography?

[Lumutqueen]

Originally Posted by cepe

Is that an authorised biography?

Nope.
It's actually called Young Prince Philip: His Turbulent Early Life according to Amazon and it's about his racy youth.

[cepe]

Where can I find a list of authorised biographies, please?