A revelatory & racy biography of the early life of Prince Philip. Married for more than sixty years to the most famous woman in the world Prince Philip is the longest-serving royal consort in British history. Yet while he is still one of the most recognisable figures in public life his origins remain curiously shrouded in obscurity. In Young Prince Philip the first book to focus exclusively on his life before the coronation Philip Eade recounts the Princes extraordinary upbringing in Greece France Nazi Germany & Britain where he inhabited a notably colourful milieu yet was beset by continual turbulence & a succession of family tragedies. This revealing book examines the formative psychological effects of having a mother who was born deaf & was committed to a psychiatric clinic when Philip was nine & a father who was so traumatised by his treatment at the hands of Greek revolutionaries that he later left his young son to be brought up by his wifes family the Milford Havens & Mountbattens just when Philip needed him most. Remarkably there emerged from this unsettled background a character of singular vitality & dash
- self-confident capable famously opinionated & devastatingly handsome. Girls fell at his feet & the princess who would become his wife was smitten from the age of thirteen. Yet alongside the considerable charm & intelligence the young prince was also prone to volcanic outbursts & to putting his foot in it. Detractors perceived in his behaviour emotional shortcomings a legacy of his traumatic childhood which would have profound consequences for his family & the future of the monarchy. Containing new material from interviews archives & film footage Young Prince Philip is the most complete & compelling account yet of his storm-tossed early life.