Prince Philip was most likely a serial philanderer, despite whatever horsesh-t royal biographers want to say now. Philip was probably more of an indiscriminate philanderer in his younger years, back during the time when the British media simply gave privacy and discretion to most men of a certain class. In his later years, it’s been pretty well established that Philip was very close to Penelope Knatchbull. Penny was something of his best friend, lover and companion for the last three decades of his life. Queen Elizabeth seemed mostly fine with the arrangement, and for what it’s worth, QEII seemed quite fond of Penny too. Some of Philip and Penny’s relationship is dramatized in The Crown, much to the Windsors’ chagrin. There have been a number of royalists huffing and puffing about how dare Netflix show Philip engaging in a consensual affair with a younger woman! After the initial performative outrage, at least there are some royalists who are back to speaking in barely veiled euphemisms.

The Queen ‘cut Prince Philip some slack over his friendships with women’ as the late monarch was aware her husband was made to ‘walk a tightrope’ as her consort, a royal expert has claimed. Historian Dr Tessa Dunlop – who has penned the biography Elizabeth and Philip: A Story of Young Love, Marriage and Monarchy – says the late royal couple ‘clearly had an enduring and loving marriage’.

Appearing on the Mail Plus’ Palace Confidential series, the royal expert commented on a storyline in the new series of the The Crown which will see Prince Philip pursuing an extra-marital relationship with Penny Knatchbull. Countess Mountbatten of Burma became the Duke’s ‘closest confidante’ and was one of the 30 mourners who attended his funeral in April 2021.

The Netflix hit series is reported to have filmed ‘intimate scenes’ between Prince Philip and Penny Knatchbull – who had a 32-year age difference – which lands on screens tomorrow, just over two months after the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

Speaking to host Jo Elvin, Dr Dunlop said: ‘The inference is that he wasn’t sexually faithful – that’s what people have inferred. But whether he was or not, the Queen and him clearly had a loving and enduring marriage and a partnership that she leant on and he leant on. They both depended on each other.’

What’s more, the expert said that it is well-known that high-profile aristocratic couples of the time weren’t always strictly faithful to each other. She added: ‘Monogamy didn’t have the high currency it does in today’s world.’

[From The Daily Mail]

I’m of the same opinion, especially with regard to Philip’s relationship with Penny. They likely had a decades-long affair and relationship. I doubt it was purely carnal, especially given that Penny was still his loving companion in his final years at Wood Farm, when his health was failing. I think the Queen accepted it in the end, although I doubt she was all that forgiving in the early years of her marriage. But towards the end… Elizabeth and Philip lived apart and Elizabeth accepted Penny and was quite close to Penny on her own. I also think Philip and Elizabeth adored each other and they were both part of a generation which… yeah, didn’t put the highest premium on fidelity and monogamy.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid, Netflix/The Crown.