Philip: The Final Portrait: Elizabeth, Their Marriage and Their Dynasty

Product Information

Brandreth explores a temperament on the brink of anger and agitation with immense tact, even affection.’– THE SPECTATOR

You do it like this, with careful research, impeccable sources, love for your job and an enormous (and open eyed) respect for the man you are writting about. Philip – elusive, complex, controversial, challenging, often humorous, sometimes irascible – is the man Elizabeth II once described as her ‘constant strength and guide’. Who was he? What was he really like? What is the truth about those ‘gaffes’ and the rumours of affairs? This is the final portrait of an unexpected and often much-misunderstood figure. It is also the portrait of a remarkable marriage that endured for more than seventy years.What comes accross here quite clearly is the respect and the admiration that exist - mutual I would dare say, since I doubt Prince Philip would waist his time if he didn't think Mr. Brandreth was worth it.

Gyles Brandreth is a writer, performer, former MP and government whip whose career has ranged from hosting Have I Got News For You to starring in his own award-winning musical revue in London's West End. Currently a reporter with The One Show on BBC1 and a regular on Radio 4's Just a Minute, his acclaimed Victorian detective stories -THE OSCAR WILDE MURDER MYSTERIES - are now being published in nineteen countries around the world and are currently in development for TV. All six books in the series, OSCAR WILDE AND THE CANDLELIGHT MURDERS, OSCAR WILDE AND THE RING OF DEATH, OSCAR WILDE AND THE DEAD MAN'S SMILE, OSCAR WILDE AND THE NEST OF VIPERS, OSCAR WILDE AND THE VATICAN MURDERS and OSCAR WILDE AND THE MURDERS AT READING GAOL are available from John Murray. You can find out more about the Oscar Wilde Murder Mysteries at www.oscarwildemurdermysteries.com and at www.johnmurray.co.uk and about Gyles Brandreth at www.gylesbrandreth.net. He is married to writer and publisher Michèle Brown, with whom he co-curated the exhibition of twentieth century children’s authors at the National Portrait Gallery and founded the award-winning Teddy Bear Museum now based at the Polka Theatre in Wimbledon. He is a trustee of the British Forces Foundation, and a former chairman and now vice-president of the National Playing Fields Association. Account icon An icon in the shape of a person's head and shoulders. It often indicates a user profile. Very thorough and engaging take on Prince Philip of Edinburgh. I enjoyed especially the “did he or did he not??” energy of the chapters discussing his potential infidelities, since I was already very curious about the topic, and felt satisfied with the answer that Brandreth provided. Love, after all, can come in different forms, and the type of intellectual love that he forms with his female friends is the kind of love that I too reserve for people whom I admire and respect but would never have romantic feelings for. Fascinating still is the depiction of Philip and Elizabeth’s relationship, especially under the context of the history of instability in the British monarchy history (as well as in Philip’s childhood). This book has successfully torn apart the fairytale, idol-like image that I’d had of the famous royal couple, yet replaced it with the story of two very flawed individuals who manage to find contentment and even happiness in a life of constrained duty. The latter, I think, is much more worth learning from and appreciating. Philip - elusive, complex, controversial, challenging, often humorous, sometimes irascible - is the man Elizabeth II once described as her 'constant strength and guide'. Who was he? What was he really like? What is the truth about those 'gaffes' and the rumours of affairs? This is the final portrait of an unexpected and often much-misunderstood figure. It is also the portrait of a remarkable marriage that endured for more than seventy years.Coronet has dubbed it "a powerful, revealing and ultimatelymoving account of a long life and a remarkable royal partnership".