From gadget king to royal Luddite

Release time：2024-05-21 11:15:30 Source：Global Gateway news portal

He was famous as a lover of technology.

Whether it was piloting jets, sailing boats or subscribing to Flying Saucer Review, Prince Philip royal spent hours immersing himself in workings of mechanisms and machines.

Today, it is easy to forget that, for much of his time as husband and consort to the Queen, Philip was a decidedly modernising force in a rather stuffy monarchy, often to the discomfort of courtiers.

The Duke of Edinburgh inspects a cine film of an AA Bofors Gun which he saw in operation during his visit to British forces in Germany

Philip at the controls of a Heron aircraft of the Queen's Flight as he leaves Heathrow Airport for his two day visit to Brussels Universal and International Exhibition in 1958

Gadgets were a particular favourite. It has been reported that, as a young Naval officer, Philip had air-conditioned his own quarters with a system of fans, radiators and thermostats. 

Some claim he had devised an early tea-making device – before the likes of commercial hit Teasmade entered the market.

More seriously, Philip served as the president of the British Association for the Advancement of Science.

According to the Royal Collection Trust, his interest ‘in many ways reflects and continues the role of the great-great-great-grandfather, Prince Albert.

And when, later, a giant water turbine was installed on the Windsor estate to provide energy for Windsor Castle, few doubted that the Duke of Edinburgh was a keen part of the planning.

As he once put it, ‘everything not made by God was made by an engineer.’

Even towards the end of his life, the restless Philip was keen to keep up with the latest gismos, devouring books on his Kindle screen, for example.

Always keen to know how things work, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh look at exhibits in the Household Cavalry Museum, at Horse Guards Parade, with the late Queen 

Prince Philip holds a book on artist and architect Michelangelo at King's Lynn station, after taking the train from King's Cross in London

Prince Philip spent much of his time at Wood Farm on the Sandringham estate. While enjoying traditional pursuits such as carriage driving, Philip was keen to keep up with the latest gadgetry

Wood Farm in Sandringham where the 'Kindle' incident took place

Until he lost patience.

According to author Tina Brown in her best-selling book The Palace Papers, ‘Philip often extolled the joys of his Kindle until, disgusted by all the direct marketing of books he didn’t want to read, he threw it in the bathtub.’

This had apparently taken place at what Brown describes as his ‘man cave’ at Wood Farm, a simple house on the Sandringham Estate where the Duke of Edinburgh spent much of his retirement reading and painting.

Related articles