After devoting much of his life to the challenge of preparing his eldest son Charles to rule effectively, Prince Philip showed signs of overcoming doubts over the heir, a family biographer has told The National.
The author, Michel Faure, says the Greek-born consort, who died on Friday two months short of his 100th birthday, set himself a mission to "make a man" of his son and overcome qualms about his fitness to reign.
In his book, Charles, King of England, published last month, Mr Faure charts the roles of sport, military service and shared environmental awareness in easing a difficult relationship.
Faure, a veteran French foreign correspondent and author, detects a gradual shift in father-son dynamics as the "attentive but authoritative" Duke of Edinburgh began to recognise Prince Charles's efforts to show himself worthy of his rank and of his father.
But he feels that the prince only partly won his father’s trust, and continued to fear as well as admire him in a relationship which continued to be ambiguous. "His son feared him while at the same time admiring him," Faure says now. "And this mixture of fear and admiration has continued."
Faure recalls how, as recently as 2017, the duke implied that he did not consider his decades-long project to shape his son as a dependable future king to have been an unqualified success.
He views as a key moment, first revealed by biographer Tom Bower, when the duke was quoted as questioning his son’s suitability for the monarchy.
At a dinner with friends, Prince Philip is said to have described Queen Elizabeth, then 91, as being in robust health and likely to live for at least 10 more years. "Charles would have little opportunity to damage the monarchy if he were king for only a brief period," he reportedly added.
Bower's own account says that the duke also voiced doubts about whether his son "who had barely come to terms with the 20th century, could unify the country in the 21st".
Speaking to The National after the Duke of Edinburgh's death, Faure accepted that if the remarks were accurately reported, they may have reflected the royal consort's "sometimes questionable humour", intended to amuse chums at a convivial dinner rather than to mock his son.
"It was gentle," Faure said, "but shows how Philip saw himself as different from Charles, his son sentimental while he was pragmatic."
Prince Charles's touching televised tribute at the weekend to "Dear Papa" demonstrated the warmth of his own feelings and respect for his father.
But as a blunt, sport-loving polyglot with a distinguished naval career behind him, the duke had found it hard to cope with a child whom he regarded as having been mollycoddled by nannies, according to Faure.
With the queen concentrating on "taking care of the kingdom", it had fallen to the duke to raise Prince Charles and his younger siblings.
He wanted, Faure says, to make his eldest son a man. "The child shows himself ready for such an adventure, arms himself with courage and tries to be like his father, a model of masculinity. But, for this, he must overcome many fears and anxieties."
Faure says that, in many ways, the pressure paid off. "As he got older, Charles began riding, took up the sports his father played, followed him into the Royal Navy.
"He began to trust himself and also earned some confidence from his father."
Not all of this development came naturally, the author says, since the young Prince Charles did not share the passion for horses of the queen and that of his sister, Princess Anne.
“He overcame fear to reassure Philip, to please him, to make him proud of him,” he writes, in his analysis of a complex relationship.
“He gets used to riding ponies, then hunting horses, participates in jumping competitions and becomes an avid polo player. He shoots grouse as it should be done in the English aristocracy, [goes] fly fishing and sailing, and follows his father’s footsteps into the Royal Navy.”
Faure praises Prince Charles’s “mastery and elegance” on the ski slopes of the Swiss Alps, where he showed skill and daring, and narrowly escaped an avalanche that engulfed his group off-piste in 1988, killing a close friend.
The biographer identifies art as another pursuit in which Prince Charles saw his father as a model, though Faure rates the duke’s oil paintings as superior to his son’s watercolours. He also developed a keen interest in the environment to match that of his father.
“Charles, pushed by his father, but also encouraged by him to move forward without fear on life’s path, arms himself with courage and ends up gaining confidence,” writes Faure.
“He finally opens up about himself and others, after a childhood marked by sadness, introversion and meditation before the beauties of nature and the large gardens of the family's castles.”
In boyhood, the author says, Prince Charles would infuriate his often curt, stern father. But Faure credits the duke with shaping his son “into an adult worthy of his rank, concerned about his usefulness and the fate of his subjects”.
Given his background as a globe-trotting reporter and his expertise on Latin America, a book on Britain’s royal family may seem a surprising project for Faure, now 70. His past works include histories of Cuba and Brazil, a study of the life of the Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, and a translation of a book on London by Boris Johnson, now Britain's prime minister.
But with the retreat from royal life, amid much bitterness, of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and now the death of Prince Philip, Faure’s royal biography could hardly have been more effectively timed.
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At one year old, Prince Philip of Greece shows an interest in things floral, July 1922. Getty Images -
King Michael of Romania, right, rides with his cousin Prince Philip of Greece on the sands at Constanza, August 1928. Reuters -
Prince Philip of Greece dressed for the Gordonstoun School's production of 'MacBeth', in Scotland, July 1935. Getty Images -
A rare picture of Prince Philip of Greece at the public school of Gordonstoun, Elgin, Scotland, December 1939. Reuters -
Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten, prior to his marriage to Princess Elizabeth, working at his desk after returning to his Royal Navy duties at the Petty Officers Training Centre in Corsham, Wiltshire, August 1, 1947. Getty Images -
Princess Elizabeth, heiress presumptive to the throne, pictured in the White Drawing Room at Buckingham Palace with her husband to be, Lt Philip Mountbatten, and her sister Princess Margaret, September 1947. Reuters -
King George VI, Princess Margaret, Lady Mary Cambridge, Princess Elizabeth, Prince Philip, Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary on the balcony at Buckingham Palace after the wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Philip Mountbatten, London, on November 20, 1947. Getty Images -
Undated picture showing the future Queen Elizabeth II of England and Prince Philip of Edinburgh posing with their son Prince Charles, 1949. AFP -
His Royal Highness Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, enjoys an old-fashioned hoedown held in the honour of the Royal Couple at Rideau Hall, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, October 11, 1951. Getty Images -
Undated picture showing the Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, and her husband Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, with their two children, Charles, Prince of Wales and Princess Anne in 1952. AFP -
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip pose after the Queen's Coronation on June 2, 1953, at Buckingham Palace. AFP -
The Duke of Edinburgh disembarks from a Harvard Trainer aircraft after a flight, at RAF White Waltham, Berkshire, where he had been training for his 'wings', on May 4, 1953. Getty Images -
Prince Charles of Wales with his father Prince Philip of Edinburgh aboard a boat in 1955. AFP -
In February 1979, Founding Father Sheikh Zayed and President Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, joined Queen Elizabeth ll and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, aboard the royal yacht 'Britannia' during the British royals' state visit to the UAE. Getty Images -
Queen Elizabeth ll and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh entertain Sultan Qaboos on board the royal yacht Britannia during a state visit to Oman on February 29, 1979 in Muscat, Oman. Getty Images -
Prince Charles and Princess Diana on the balcony of Buckingham Palace on their wedding day, accompanied by Prince Philip, 29 July, 1981. Getty Images -
Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi greets the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip, on November 2, 1989 in New Dehli. Gandhi, who was about to launch his campaign in the country's upcoming parliamentary elections, inaugurated an exhibition on the world's environment, at which Prince Philip was chief guest as president of the WWF. AFP -
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, bursts out in laughter during a conversation with Second World War veterans after a wreath-laying ceremony at the main Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery in Ramle, Israel, October 30, 1994. AFP -
Former South African president Nelson Mandela shares a light moment with the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Phillip at Drakenstein Prison, Paarl, about 50 kilometres from Cape Town, on November 5, 2000. AFP -
Queen Elizabeth II walks through the Royal Gallery accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh for the State Opening of Parliament on June 20, 2001. AFP -
Queen Rania of Jordan and the Duke of Edinburgh at a state banquet at Windsor Castle on November 6, 2001. AFP -
A Clarence House official handout photo shows the Prince of Wales and his new bride Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, with their families Prince Harry, Prince William, Tom and Laura Parker Bowles, Duke of Edinburgh Prince Philip, Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and Camilla's father Major Bruce Shand, in the White Drawing Room at Windsor Castle after their wedding ceremony on April 9, 2005 in Windsor, England. Getty Images -
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh greet the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, as he arrives at a lunch for Sovereign Monarchs held in honour of Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee, at Windsor Castle, on May 18, 2012. Getty Images -
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, greet the President of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, in Windsor Castle on April 30, 2013. Getty Images -
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh react as they bid farewell to Irish President Michael D. Higgins and his wife Sabina at the end of their official visit at Windsor Castle on April 11, 2014. Getty Images -
Prince Harry and Prince Phillip enjoy the atmosphere during the 2015 Rugby World Cup Final match between New Zealand and Australia at Twickenham on October 31, 2015, in London. Getty Images -
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh during the wedding ceremony of Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and US actress Meghan Markle in St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, on May 19, 2018. AFP -
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh smiles as he talks to Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex as they leave St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle, west of London, on May 18, 2019, after the wedding of Lady Gabriella Windsor and Thomas Kingston. AFP -
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh flanked by Assistant Colonel Commandant, Major General Tom Copinger-Symes, inspects buglers during the transfer of the Colonel-in-Chief of The Rifles at Windsor Castle, July 22, 2020. AFP
The book, which includes a chapter on the duke, the longest serving consort in British royal history, has so far been published only in France. It appeared little more than a week after the duchess’s controversial interview on US television with Oprah Winfrey on her unhappy life within the royal family.
"The French are fascinated by British royalty," Faure told The National during a stay in London where his grown-up children live and work. His daughter, Emilie, an art expert, was previously based in Dubai where she directed the Farjam Foundation, the UAE's first private museum.
“Sometimes the French are more monarchist than the British," he says. "They don’t want their own royal family back but we have what is sometimes called a republican monarchy, where the constitution gives the president so much more power than parliament.
"The level of attention, and the way different members of the family are regarded, goes through ups and downs according to events.
"My book on Pinochet was a lot more challenging, but when I tell people about this one on Charles, they are more interested.”
