Queen elizabeth: how philip was ‘brutal’ to the queen and made her cry

The Duke of Edinburgh challenged the Queen on the surnames of their offspring to the point where the monarch was seen sobbing by those closest to them. In the Netflix documentary the Royal

House of Windsor, a young Prince Philip was said to have pushed the Queen to breaking point over the matter after Charles and Anne were born in a major shake up of the Windsor family

dynasty. When 10 years later the couple announced the Queen was pregnant with Andrew, father to princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, who will marry Jack Brooksbank on Friday, he forced her hand

to change Andrew’s and Edward’s last names to be hyphenated to Mountbatten-Windsor, suggesting he may have given the Queen an ultimatum. The late Harold Macmillan, the then Prime Minister,

was also dragged into the spat and wrote about it in his diary. He said: “What upsets me is the prince’s almost brutal attitude to the Queen over all this.” The row appeared to have begun

long before the Queen’s succession when her father, King George VI, was still alive, according to the programme. A personality clash made their relationship strained at times with the Queen

having been brought up as a traditionalist by her father but falling in love with Philip, who was described as a modernist. Philip was also known for being extremely ambitious in his career

in the Royal Navy and had his sights set on making a name for the Mountbatten family. Historian, Dr Piers Brendon, said: “He hoped to go right to the top of the admiralty, he felt this was

his destiny.” But when King George VI died of lung cancer in 1952 and the then-Princess Elizabeth became Queen, Prince Philip was forced to scrap his career and all he had dreamed of for

her. When the Queen announced she was pregnant with Prince Charles, the Duke was furious the child, and Princess Anne who followed shortly afterwards, would have the last name Windsor

instead of Mountbatten. Just 11 days before the birth of Prince Andrew, the Queen announced his last name would be Mountbatten-Windsor after Philip enlisted the help of a meticulous lawyer

called Edward Iwe. Mr Iwe argued the children would be considered “illegitimate” should they not take the Mountbatten last name. The shocking revelation is not the first time the Queen and

Philip locked horns. The documentary revealed he had not taken to life at Buckingham Palace and had annoyed the Queen by quizzing palace staff on their duties, frying his own breakfast and

carrying his own bags. There has also been infamous scandals on his apparent “womanising” - so much so the Queen Mother and King George VI had questioned their daughter’s choice of partner.

In a letter, the Queen’s Mother described Philip as “rough and overbearing”. Though despite early clashes the pair have celebrated more than 70 years of marriage and Philip has become a

much-loved member of the Royal Family. He and the Queen will be present at Eugenie’s wedding in just two days time.