"Courtiers, The Hidden Power Behind The Crown" by Valentine Low (2022)

[GondorHasNoPants]

Thanks in advance if someone can post an archive of this article

Archive version here.

 

[Hallo girl]

Its interesting because as much as Philip is often portrayed or thought of as rude and bullying most people who know him say that whilst he can be very direct he is likewise kind & courteous, especially towards women. I've just finished Courtiers and the impression I get is that, a bit like Anne's office, people knew where they stood with Philip, yes if you got it wrong you were told, but then it was forgotten and moved on from quickly without a grudge held. I would say this was very much "a Navy way" of working. I also get the impression from Courtiers and other books that Philip wouldn't stand anyone else criticising his staff so in that way he had their back and they appreciated that. Charles' household seem to run on people being at each other all the time , Andrew seems to treat other staff (not so much his own interestingly) like rubbish, William and Catherine seem to treat their staff well as did HLM.

I think it was telling that after the death of the Duke of Edinburgh that the loyal staff following the hearse, were mainly older men , who had served him for many years. If not all ,the most were now retiring , in some cases should already have retired, but wanted to remain with him to the end.