Warm royal welcome, down to a T

Unfortunately, events in Australia and overseas took the limelight away from the special memorial service for Prince Philip in Westminster Abbey this week, but I don’t think Philip would have minded  in the least.

Australians were more concerned about renewed flooding in Southeast Queensland and Northern New South Wales, or how well they would fare in the Federal Budget cash splash, while overseas attention was more focussed on brave Ukranians successfully resisting the Russian invaders.

Some Royal  watchers weren’t impressed when Queen Elizabeth entered through a side door on the arm of her second son Andrew, recently the subject of a prolonged sex scandal which only ended after a massive payout to his accuser.

What would Philip have thought about this apparent sign of a mother forgiving a wayward son? Probably, it would be a thumbs up and a “Good on you, Liz”.

That was the Philip I like to remember and it revived thoughts of how he was unjustly accused of being a racist after an off the cuff remark to an indigenous leader during an Australian tour years ago: “Do you people still throw spears at each other?”

Shock, horror! But that was no doubt inspired by what he witnessed in Townsville way back in 1954 on the royal couple’s first Australian tour. I saw it too, and I have included it the following excerpt from my new Amazon Books Memoir, Don’t Call Me Nev, to set the record straight.

I've always admired the Royal Consort, Prince Philip, as a bloke who spoke his mind no matter what, and was sad to hear of his passing at the ripe old age of 99.

Now, you couldn't describe my wife as a Monarchist with her Irish Catholic ancestry on her mother's side, but she shares my feelings about Philip. Cathy's interest in the Royals is usually confined to weddings and the frequent scandals such as the fire storm ignited by the controversial Oprah interview of their grandson Harry and his American wife Megan Markle.

But as the TV cameras zoomed in for a close-up of Queen Elizabeth a while back, she was obviously impressed:

"Liz still has beautiful skin".

"Mmmm," I agreed, without glancing up from my car magazine.

"No, look, she hasn't a wrinkle," she insisted.