Today Britain is mourning the passing of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. After 73 years of marriage, one can only imagine how hard it will be for the Queen to deal with such a loss and ones heart goes out to her.
While for the most part what the public saw of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip was carefully managed, I was stuck, many years ago, by what seemed to be a tiny glimpse of what their private life might have been like.
When Imperial College was granted its own independent charter in 2007, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip came to the Exhibition Road entrance for a ceremony celebrating the College's departure from the University of London. I was able to watch the proceedings which were live-streamed on the Internet.
After the ceremony was over, there appeared to be a signing of a visitors book. At that point I think everyone expected the feed to be cut, but instead the camera (and more importantly the microphones) were still on.
Prince Philip signed first. For some reason he appeared to be taking his time, while the the Queens waited. To my complete surprise, apparently a little irritated with the delay, she rebuked him: "Oh, do get on with it, you silly old fool" is what I remember her quietly saying to him.
While initially slightly shocking, on reflection it seemed to me incredibly humanizing and rather endearing. Behind the facade of the pageantry of the monarchy as an institution, here was a couple that had been married for almost 60 years, subject to many of the same emotional stresses and strains common to almost any marriage, a couple that had settled into a very comfortable routine of togetherness. That I found rather heart-warming.
While for the most part what the public saw of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip was carefully managed, I was stuck, many years ago, by what seemed to be a tiny glimpse of what their private life might have been like.
When Imperial College was granted its own independent charter in 2007, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip came to the Exhibition Road entrance for a ceremony celebrating the College's departure from the University of London. I was able to watch the proceedings which were live-streamed on the Internet.
After the ceremony was over, there appeared to be a signing of a visitors book. At that point I think everyone expected the feed to be cut, but instead the camera (and more importantly the microphones) were still on.
Prince Philip signed first. For some reason he appeared to be taking his time, while the the Queens waited. To my complete surprise, apparently a little irritated with the delay, she rebuked him: "Oh, do get on with it, you silly old fool" is what I remember her quietly saying to him.
While initially slightly shocking, on reflection it seemed to me incredibly humanizing and rather endearing. Behind the facade of the pageantry of the monarchy as an institution, here was a couple that had been married for almost 60 years, subject to many of the same emotional stresses and strains common to almost any marriage, a couple that had settled into a very comfortable routine of togetherness. That I found rather heart-warming.
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