Why Philip's outrageous friends horrified the palace: 非，不，無 did more so than his drunken, foul-mouthed, gargantuan sailing partner

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Eileen Parker was married to Prince Philip’s closest 補佐官, マイク Parker, for 15 years.?

As a young couple, they socialised with newly married Prince Philip and Princess Elizabeth, 株ing suppers and theatre trips, as 明らかにする／漏らすd in the first 抽出する from her republished memoir in Saturday’s Daily Mail.?

Today, Eileen, who is 95 and lives in a care home, charts the growing 関心 over Prince Philip’s 私的な life away from the scrutiny of Palace 公式の／役人s.

Wearing a white linen sun hat, a white shirt and grey slacks, the Duke of Edinburgh is pictured at the tiller of his ヨット Coweslip at Cowes in August 1964 when he took part in the 飛行機で行くing Fifteen race. Beside him is Uffa Fox, who was 乗組員ing for him

From the moment that he became equerry to Prince Philip, my husband, マイク, took it upon himself to 行為／法令／行動する as his 雇用者’s 非公式の 法廷，裁判所 jester.?

Both 海軍の officers, the two of them had been friends since they served in the same flotilla during the war, and マイク always had an 注目する，もくろむ open for the oddballs whom he knew would amuse the Prince.?

長，指導者 の中で them was Uffa Fox, a 甚だしい／１２ダース, rambling Falstaff of a man who was 一般的に 定評のある to be a boat designer of genius and regaled his friends with a 広大な 蓄える／店 of 航海の yarns and rude ditties.?

I once heard him 誇る that during one day’s sailing he had sung for eight hours without repeating a 選び出す／独身 song.?

He was no いっそう少なく colourful a character on land, where his motto was ‘Never stand when you can sit, never sit when you can 嘘（をつく）’.?

To this end, he kept a 車椅子 in the kitchen of his home on the 小島 of Wight and in this he would 往復（する） between the two ovens necessary to 融通する the 抱擁する 共同のs of roast beef and 厚い steaks to which he 扱う／治療するd his guests, all washed 負かす／撃墜する with umpteen 瓶／封じ込めるs of red ワイン.?

I first got to know Uffa when Prince Philip raced a ヨット during Cowes Week in the summer of 1948.?

I noticed how both he and マイク appeared 若返らせるd in his company and behaved more than ever like schoolboys.?

One of their いたずらs was to hide a bulboperated モーター-horn under a cushion.?

When an unsuspecting 犠牲者 sat on it, there would be a loud and flatulent honking, 迎える／歓迎するd by 強風s of laughter.?

The Prince’s love of what Princess Elizabeth called ‘Philip’s funny friends’ would later 原因（となる） much 緊張 between him and the ‘old guard’ in the 王室の 世帯.

However, on our return from Cowes that summer, there was a more 圧力（をかける）ing 事柄 on everyone’s minds: the birth of the 王室の couple’s first child that November.?

Earlier that year, the Prince’s excitement about the prospect of having children had been 明らかな when he （機の）カム to lunch at our new flat in De Vere Gardens, just across the road from Kensington Palace.

Although?the new flat was a 限定された 改良 on the poky accommodation we had been living in, there was still no proper dining room.?

Instead, we crouched at a sofa （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する in the 前線 hall.?

‘When you are more settled, I’ll come 一連の会議、交渉／完成する and cook you a cheese souffle,’ Prince Philip said.?

‘It’s my favourite dish, but impossible to enjoy at Buckingham Palace. By the time it gets from the kitchen to the dining （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する, it goes flat.’?

Prince Philip did have a cheese souffle on a later occasion, but who cooked it escapes my memory.?

I do remember that he had a particular 利益／興味 in cooking, and when he moved into Buckingham Palace after the King’s death he had a kitchen 任命する／導入するd in the 私的な apartments.?

It 含むd every type of 器具／備品 for even the most sophisticated culinary 実験s.?

He used to cook exotic dishes with many improvisations.?

によれば マイク, there was hardly a dish Prince Philip would not 見本 when they were on 小旅行する.?

Bobo MacDonald,?the young Princess’s dresser,?was the only person outside the 王室の Family who was 許すd to call her by her pet 指名する ‘Lilibet’

He was happy and relaxed that day, helping our three-year-old?son, Michael, use his spoon during the meal and showing much curiosity about the perversities of young children.?

‘It must be an extra source of fun in life,’ he said of parenthood.

The moment the 王室の midwife called the gynaecologist to say Princess Elizabeth had gone into 労働 at Buckingham Palace, Prince Philip was also 召喚するd and, like all fathers-to-be, became ますます restive as he joined the King and Queen to を待つ the 告示 of the birth.?

To relieve the 緊張, マイク 示唆するd a game of squash before 冷静な／正味のing off in the palace swimming pool, and they were just 乾燥した，日照りのing themselves when a footman （機の）カム running with the news that the Princess had given birth.?

Their hair still wet, they both 急ぐd up to the 製図／抽選-room where the proud grandparents were receiving the congratulations of a happy 世帯.?

With his usual foresight, マイク had arranged a 供給（する） of シャンペン酒 and 手渡すd 一連の会議、交渉／完成する the glasses while Prince Philip went in to see his wife and the new arrival, Prince Charles.?

By the time Princess Elizabeth had come 一連の会議、交渉／完成する fully from the anaesthetic, マイク had a 抱擁する bouquet of roses and carnations ready for Prince Philip to give to her.

No one who knew the 王室の couple ever questioned that their marriage was a love match.?

As a young wife myself, I had no 疑問s.?

Princess Elizabeth was as in love w ith Prince Philip as only a woman in love can be.?

She knew that in entering into matrimony her choice of partner was for life.

Prince Philip and the Princess never discussed their 私的な life.?

Nor did they betray, except in the most unguarded moments, those natural 調印するs of affection between husband and wife.?

I saw an 時折の つつく／ペック on the cheek, but spontaneous affection was seldom 表明するd, only the 時折の warm ちらりと見ること between them.?

'Princess Elizabeth was as in love with Prince Philip as only a woman in love can be,' 令状s Eileen Parker

They were 決定するd to keep 私的な separate from Public.?

And wherever two or more of the 世帯 were gathered together it was Public.?

The 世帯, in turn, 尊敬（する）・点d their wishes.?

事柄s of a personal nature were never 明らかにする／漏らすd to 部外者s.?

The 世帯 現在のd a 部隊d 前線 and its members guarded their 特権s jealously.?

They all believed in what the 君主国 stood for.?

保存するing the prestige of the 栄冠を与える was a 義務 that over-棒 everything.

Our daughter, Julie, was born a month later, on December 16 and, in 予定 course, Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip （機の）カム to De Vere Gardens to see her.?

Our flat was at the very 最高の，を越す of the 封鎖する. The 解除する didn’t go all the way, even when it was working 適切に, and to reach us a その上の flight of stairs had to be climbed.?

Answering the door, I 設立する the Princess short of breath ― ‘I never thought I’d get here,’ she gasped.?

マイク and I had deliberately kept Julie awake for her 王室の 訪問者s.?

The Princess took her in her 武器, 説 all the nice things mothers love to hear about their babies.?

We had so much of 相互の 利益／興味 to talk about that evening, and I 特に 解任する her asking if I had kept any of baby マイク’s?着せる／賦与するs for Julie.?

She explained that she had been using some 手渡す-me-負かす／撃墜するs for Prince Charles, 含むing the very pram which had been used 22 years ago for herself.?

While we were sipping our sherry, the 王室の couple’s 探偵，刑事 and chauffeur were in the kitchen drinking beer with our nanny, Maisie.?

Needless to say, she could barely wait for our guests to leave so that she could sit 負かす／撃墜する and 令状 to her family in Ireland.

With a son and 相続人 to raise, the Princess and Prince Philip were eager to move out of Buckingham Palace and into a home of their own, and in July 1949 they took up 住居 in Clarence House, newly refurbished によれば their very 明確な／細部 必要物／必要条件s.?

'They were 決定するd to keep 私的な separate from Public. And wherever two or more of the 世帯 were gathered together it was Public. The 世帯, in turn, 尊敬（する）・点d their wishes,' she said

For example, Prince Philip made やめる a point of getting the lighting in the kitchen to be the same as that in the dining room ― ‘If they’re different, the chef would be 準備するing food that might have a 完全に different complexion once it was placed on the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する!’?

The move to Clarence House gave Prince Philip more freedom to run his 私的な life as he 手配中の，お尋ね者.?

While he was respectful に向かって the King and formed a の近くに understanding with his motherin- 法律, Queen Elizabeth, he bridled at the 王室の 世帯’s proprietorial 態度 に向かって the 栄冠を与える and its seeming resistan ce to new ways of doing things.?

For their part, 上級の Buckingham Palace 公式の／役人s were worried he might get 伴う／関わるd with the wrong sort of people, not least photographer ‘法案’ Baron, a 主要な member of the ‘funny friends’ with whom Prince Philip enjoyed 正規の／正選手 ‘Thursday Club’ lunches at Wheeler’s Restaurant in Soho.?

Baron was not known as a model of propriety in the gossip columns, nor in the 製図／抽選 rooms of Mayfair and Belgravia.?

And this 明らかな 決意 by Prince Philip to socialise with such characters and enjoy speeches, いたずらs and jokes reminiscent of his bachelor days remained a 原因（となる） for 関心, with 事柄s not helped by the 捨てるs in which he and マイク often 設立する themselves.?

Once, when they had been locked out at night, they had to 緊急発進する over the gates.?

‘Serves them 権利!’ commented Princess Elizabeth when she heard about it.?

On another occasion, one of マイク’s いたずらs literally blew up in his 直面する.?

Carol Reed, the film director, had just 完全にするd a film called Outcast Of The Islands and had 現在のd マイク with a model 大砲 used in the 生産／産物.?

Intrigued by the 爆発性の 可能性s of this new toy, マイク and Prince Philip placed the 大砲 on the desk and stuffed （土地などの）細長い一片s of paper 負かす／撃墜する the バーレル／樽.?

The next time the door opened, Princess Elizabeth walked straight into a にわか雨 of confetti.?

に引き続いて the move to Clarence House, the 王室の Family spent the summer holidays of 1949 at Balmoral, as was 伝統的な, and マイク an d I were 招待するd up one 週末 with other guests from the 王室の 世帯.?

On arrival, I 設立する our 捕らえる、獲得するs unpacked and our evening wear neatly laid out.?

But something seemed to be 行方不明の ― my nightgown of sheer nylon.?

When I 結局 設立する it, I discovered a large scorch 権利 through the middle.?

Nylon was a new 構成要素 at that time and the Princess’s dresser, Bobo MacDonald, later explained that she had tried to アイロンをかける it.?

Bobo was 明確に not familiar with such new-fangled man-made fabrics, which could perhaps be forgiven at Balmoral, a place where even Princess Elizabeth’s feeding of her corgis took on the 空気／公表する of old-fashioned ritual.?

I watched fascinated as she carefully mixed the 成分s on a silver tray 供給するd by a footman.?

With a silver spoon she dished the mixture into bowls, arranged on a mat laid over the carpet.?

By the end of the 週末, I had come to understand more 明確に why Balmoral was one of the favourite 退却／保養地s of the 王室の Family.?

The work of the 栄冠を与える went on each day, but in the background, the 強制s of 義務 were balanced by the precious freedom 簡単に to be themselves.?

A major 実験（する） of マイク’s organisational abilities as equerry （機の）カム in May 1948 when he became 伴う／関わるd in the planning of the first 公式訪問 to be undertaken by Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh.?

The 目的地 was Paris and the 旅行 had to be taken by train and cross- Channel フェリー（で運ぶ）, since the Princess was 妊娠している with Prince Charles and it was considered inadvisable for her to 飛行機で行く.?

At a 決定的な point, when マイク was up to his eyebrows in 時刻表／予定表s, 旅程s and schedules, Margaret ‘Bo bo’ MacDonald, the Princess’s dresser, 嵐／襲撃するd in and said she 手配中の，お尋ね者 to know which room she had been 配分するd at the 大使館 in Paris ― and how many electric points it had and so 前へ／外へ.?

マイク had far more important things on his mind, but what Bobo 手配中の，お尋ね者, she was accustomed to getting, whether it inconvenienced anyone else or not.?

To 述べる her as a dresser doesn’t really 伝える her uniquely 影響力のある position in the 王室の 世帯.?

Part of Princess Elizabeth’s life since her nursery days, Bobo was the first person whom the Princess saw in the morning and one of the last to see her at night.?

She was the only person outside the 王室の Family who was 許すd to call the Princess by her pet 指名する, ‘Lilibet’.?

No one was 信用d more than Bobo, and she 推定する／予想するd the deference 予定.?

The 王室の Family …に出席するd a church service at St Mary Magdalene Church in Sandringham, Norfolk, this Christmas

After Princess Elizabeth became Queen, Bobo ― known to her 雇用者 as ‘Mac’ ― was given her own apartment within Buckingham Palace and had a 王室の car at her 処分.?

She ate alone, not with the other staff, and also enjoyed the liberty of coming and going by any of the palace doors.?

Day-to-day 訪問者s like myself had to use the Privy Purse door in the 前線 中庭.?

The next time I saw Princess Elizabeth as relaxed was in the spring of 1950, when she travelled to Malta to be 近づく Prince Philip, who had returned to sea as second in 命令（する） of the 破壊者 HMS Chequers, then based in the Mediterranean.??

Bobo, as usual, …を伴ってd her together with her two favourite footmen, Pearce and Bennett, one of whom would stand behind the Princess’s 議長，司会を務める at meal times.?

Apart from this small 世帯 the Princess （機の）カム the nearest she had ever been to living a normal life.?

As the wife of a 海軍の officer on a foreign 地位，任命するing, she went to the same shops and hairdresser as all the other 海軍の wives, and …に出席するd the same dances and parties within Malta’s 海軍の society, where she and Prince Philip were known as ‘the Edinburghs’.?

He, too, 繁栄するd.?

Later that summer he was 促進するd to 中尉／大尉／警部補-指揮官 and given his first 命令（する）, the フリゲート艦 HMS Magpie.?

But in July 1951, barely a year after 存在 麻薬を吸うd 船内に, he had to leave active service.?

The King was ill.?

A 一区切り／（ボクシングなどの）試合 of flu he had 契約d in May had not （疑いを）晴らすd up and the 王室の 小旅行する of Canada he had been 予定 to 請け負う would have to go ahead with Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip instead.?

For the whole 王室の Family and 世帯 ― マイク and me 含むd ― life was about to change for good. ?

EXTRACTED from Step Aside For 王族 (2nd 版) by Eileen Parker. ? Eileen Parker and Christopher Moore 1982 and 2017. The 調書をとる／予約する is 利用できる from アマゾン (paperback) at £11.99 and on Kindle (ebook) at £7.99.