The Wisdom of Prince Philip
by Antony A Butt

Prince Philip - or to give him his proper due, His Royal Highness the Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, Earl of Merioneth and Baron Greenwich, KG (Knight of the Garter), KT (Knight of the Thistle), OM (Order of Merit), GBE (Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire), AK (Knight of the Order of Australia), QSO (Companion of The Queen's Service Order), PC (Privy Counsellor) - is a gentleman and a senior Royal of such standing, it's only fitting that a book celebrate the great wisdom he has accrued in his 93 magnificent years on earth.

A tireless public servant to the Commonwealth, who can forget such pearlers as "If it has four legs and it is not a chair, if it has got two wings and it flies but is not an aeroplane and if it swims and it is not a submarine, the Cantonese will eat it" as said to a World Wildlife Fund meeting in 1986? Or, observing to a wheelchair-bound Susan Edwards alongside her guide dog in 2002, "Do you know they have eating dogs for the anorexic now?". Of course, Australians fondly remember his deep and abiding interest in the country. We will always remember his asking "Do you still throw spears at each other?" to Indigenous leader William Brin in 2002? Or when offered a koala to stroke "Oh no, I might catch some ghastly disease"? But perhaps Prince Philip best summed up his illustratrious career when commenting to Jeremy Paxman that "Any bloody fool can lay a wreath at the thingamy".