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hyme figures on them. There was a glass-fronted cabinet for his toys, many of which –
toy soldiers, mice, horses and teddy bears – had belonged to his mother. His hairbrush,
silver rattle and perambulator were the same as his mother had used during the reign of
Allah Knight at No. 145 Piccadilly. He had two Scottish nurses – Helen Lightbody, given
the courtesy title of ‘Mrs’ as Allah Knight had been, passed on to Elizabeth from the
Gloucesters’ nursery and her junior, the nurserymaid, Miss Mabel Anderson, who was to
become a key figure in his life. Before the move to Clarence House, Prince Charles had
spent all his time at Windlesham Moor, Surrey, where the country air was considered
healthier for him, seeing his parents only at weekends. In those days, upper-class babies
saw a great deal more of their nannies than their parents and Elizabeth, although fond
of him, was not particularly maternal.
Windlesham Moor, which the couple rented from a Mrs Warwick Bryant, was a twostorey,
whitewashed house with four reception-rooms, five main bedrooms and staff
quarters, far from cramped by most people’s standards but for the royal couple probably
the smallest house they had ever lived in. Philip in particular enjoyed it. ‘I believe that
in those early days the Duke was uneasy in the atmosphere of the Palace with its
formalities,’ Dean wrote, ‘and that this heightened his pleasure in having a country
home that was so different.’ The couple would motor to Windsor to ride in the Great
Park and on Sundays join the King and Queen at the Royal Lodge to attend the private
chapel in the grounds. Windlesham had fifty acres and a garden famous for its azaleas
and rhododendrons, but unlike her parents, Elizabeth was uninterested in gardens. In
order to get her to admire his handiwork, Huggett, the head gardener, an ex-
Guardsman, had to appeal to her sense of duty. ‘Ma’am, from one Grenadier to another,
I think you ought to come round the garden after church,’ he told her. On Sundays Philip
would get the servants and the household out for a game of cricket on the pitch he had
converted from the tennis courts and local teams would be invited along to play. No
mean bowler himself, he was outshone as an all-rounder by Mike Parker.
Philip was very weight-conscious – even today he has a remarkable figure for a man
of his age. At Buckingham Palace he used to come back and have a game of squash
followed by a swim in the pool and on weekends at Windlesham he piled on the
sweaters and went for runs, coming back so exhausted that he would have to lie down,
much to Elizabeth’s amusement. ‘I think Prince Philip is mad, John,’ she used to remark
to Dean. Otherwise he was not vain about his appearance, although worrying about his
hair which was already thinning and had to be combed just right to cover the bald spot
at the back. He used lotion from Topper’s of Bond Street, who also cut his hair. He
shaved with a Gillette razor, as they were then called, refusing to use an electric one. He
had a sentimental attachment to things which had belonged to his father; the ivory
handle of his shaving brush had been Prince Andrew’s, as had the gold signet ring which
he always wore with his plain gold wedding ring. His shoes came from Lobb and his hats
from Lock in St James’s, both traditional suppliers to the royal family, but on the whole
his lack of interest in clothes was the despair of his valet. Although he did care about his
uniforms, of which he had three, when he was first married he had only one grey lounge