'Reason' Prince Philip believed Charles 'lacked dedication necessary to make a good king'
Philip reportedly didn't have high hopes for Charles at firstIt may seem hard to believe these days, but once upon a time, Prince Philip reportedly didn’t have much hope for his son, Charles, to be king.
The late Duke of Edinburgh allegedly had a difficult relationship with his eldest child. This was highlighted by conversations he had during the 1980s and 1990s about Charles’ future as monarch…
Prince Philip didn’t think Charles was ‘fit to be king’
Writing in his biography, Philip: The Final Portrait, published in 2021, royal author Gyles Brandreth revealed some details about Philip and Charles’ relationship.
Recalling discussions Philip had in the 80s and 90s, Brandreth claimed his friend Philip spoke about his eldest with “a touch of exasperation in his tone – and often, too, a note of sarcasm”.
“The duke gave the impression that he would have liked his son to be more robust, less fey,” Brandreth claimed.
One incident dates back to 1986. Philip was given three pairs of carriage driving gloves as a gift from the Playing Fields Association. They were all in different colours.
One pair was a garish lilac colour. Holding “disdainfully”, Philip reportedly remarked: “I think we’ll give these to the Prince of Wales.”
Prince Philip’s ‘opinion’ of King Charles
Philip also allegedly felt Charles lacked the “dedication necessary to make a good king”, especially after Princess Diana’s death.
Brandreth claimed that in a conversation with Philip, the late royal had said that the difference between himself and Charles was that he was “pragmatic”. Meanwhile, he believed his son was “romantic”. However, he did note their similarities.
Over the years, the relationship between Philip and Charles mellowed.
Philip shared a close bond with his daughter, Princess Anne.
“[Philip] always had more fun with Anne,” Eileen Parker, wife of Philip’s close friend, Mike Parker, told the Daily Mail in 2017.
“Charles is more like the Queen, while Anne is very like Prince Philip.”
Charles’ tribute to ‘dear papa’
Following Philip’s death in April 2021, Charles paid tribute to his “dear papa”.
“My father for I suppose, the last 70 years, has given the most remarkable, devoted service to the Queen, to my family, and to the country and also to the whole of the Commonwealth,” he said.
“And as you can imagine, my family and I miss my father enormously – he was a much-loved and appreciated figure, and apart from anything else, I can imagine he’d be so deeply touched by the number of other people here and elsewhere around the world in the Commonwealth who also, I think, share our loss and our sorrow.
“And my dear Papa was a very special person who I think, above all else, would have been amazed by the reaction and the touching things that are being said about him.”
He concluded his tribute saying: “And from that point of view we are, my family, deeply grateful for all that – it will sustain us in this particular loss and at this particularly sad time.”
Read more: King Charles issues statement following Cambridgeshire train stabbing
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