MENTION the Duke of Edinburgh in polite company in London and you will elicit a tirade of outrage or heartfelt praise — but nothing in between.
Gaffe-prone, racist and insensitive or the unwavering royal partner of a lifetime? Love him or hate him, the Queen's husband enters the history books today as the longest serving of all the British royal consorts.
As the day approached when Prince Philip would break the record of 57 years and 70 days set by Queen Charlotte, the wife of King George III, newspapers have veered between gushing sentiment and ire: "I have only once been saved by a prince and … I was smitten," wrote a Times columnist, while papers carried lists of Philip's gaffes.
Whatever your view, the man born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark has been at his wife's side since November 1947, when Princess Elizabeth married Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten at Westminster Abbey.
As a young man and former naval officer, the young duke told a group of teenage interviewers that he could not imagine being alive at the age of 80. Now, at 87, he remains in good health and spirits and continues to fulfil public duties energetically. Buckingham Palace says he attends 370 functions a year beside his wife, and has graced more than 18,500 since they became a royal double act.
Nor has age dulled his wit and uncanny knack for turning a one-liner into a headline.
His comments over the years may have sparked ire, but many - read in context and perhaps with hindsight - appear witty rather than offensive, indicative more of a man who appears to be fond of describing the world as he sees it than someone rude or uncaring.
(To the Welsh crooner Tom Jones after a royal variety performance: "What do you gargle with, pebbles?" During an early visit to Canada: "We don't come here for our health. We can think of other ways of enjoying ourselves." Standing near a brass band with a group from the British Deaf Association he pointed to the musicians and said: "Deaf? If you are near there, no wonder you are deaf.")
* The Queen has been named the most trustworthy Briton, according to a poll of 2000 people carried out on behalf of an insurance firm, ahead of Sir Richard Branson and actor Stephen Fry.PHILIP'S UNGUARDED MOMENTS
"If you stay here much longer, you'll all be slitty-eyed" - to a group of British students in Beijing in 1986."Do you know they have eating dogs for the anorexic now?" - to a blind woman with a guide dog during the Golden Jubilee tour in 2002."Do you still throw spears at each other?" - meeting Aborigines in Australia."Absolute bloody nuisances", during which he prefers to do "as little as possible" - on Olympic opening and closing ceremonies."Everybody was saying we must have more leisure. Now they are complaining they are unemployed" - during Britain's 1981 recession."Tourism is just national prostitution. We don't need any more tourists. They ruin cities" - in Slovenia in 2008."If it has got four legs and is not a chair, if it has got two wings and flies but is not an aeroplane, and if it swims and is not a submarine, the Cantonese will eat it" - to a World Wildlife Fund meeting in 1986."I've had breakfast with the Prime Minister, meetings with the Chinese, the Russians and David Cameron, and I'm proud to say I didn't nod off."
Barack Obama:
Philip: "Can you tell the difference between them?"
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