prince philip is back in focus after fresh remarks from author Gyles Brandreth shed light on how the late Duke of Edinburgh reacted to long-running claims that he was unfaithful to Queen Elizabeth. Brandreth said Philip was visibly frustrated by the rumours and even considered legal action before deciding against it. The comments were shared while Brandreth spoke about his upcoming biography of the late monarch and the couple’s long marriage.
What Prince Philip said when the rumours reached him
Brandreth said that when he visited Prince Philip in the 1990s, the late royal pulled out a thick folder of newspaper cuttings about alleged affairs. The material, he said, was filled mainly with foreign coverage and allegations involving other members of the royal family, actresses and models. Philip’s response was blunt: “There’s not a word of truth in this. What can I do about it?”
Brandreth added that Philip kept the cuttings because they had clearly annoyed him. He said the Duke photocopied them and sent them on, still asking what could be done. The warning sign for Philip, Brandreth said, was that a court case would only replay the claims publicly and risk the impression that there was “no smoke without fire. ”
That left him, in Brandreth’s words, to “grin and bear it, ” even though the rumour mill was deeply frustrating for him. The account paints a picture of a man who did not simply dismiss the allegations, but tried to weigh the consequences of fighting them openly. In that sense, prince philip emerges here not as a distant symbol, but as someone forced to confront the personal cost of gossip at the highest public level.
Inside the wider remarks on the Queen
Brandreth also addressed rumours that Queen Elizabeth had been unfaithful, saying stories about an affair with Lord Carnarvon were “ludicrous. ” He described Lord Carnarvon as a close friend of the Queen’s through their shared love of horses. He went on to say that anyone who had observed the late Queen would know she “never had an affair with anybody. ”
He called it wrong to keep repeating such claims, especially after death, when the person being discussed cannot respond in court. The remarks frame both sides of the story as part of a broader pattern of royal rumour that has survived for years, even when those involved were no longer able to answer it directly.
Why the story still resonates now
Brandreth’s comments were made while discussing his upcoming biography, Elizabeth II: An Intimate Portrait. He said the book is meant to be a close look at the Queen, but also at Prince Philip, whose loyalty to her he described as complete. He added that Philip’s life was built around that loyalty, even if he also had flirtatious friendships.
The broader backdrop is the couple’s 73-year marriage, which ended with Philip’s death on 9 April 2021. The new remarks do not introduce a fresh allegation; instead, they revisit how Prince Philip handled the pressure of repeated claims and why he believed they were so damaging.
With the biography still ahead and public interest already stirred, the discussion around prince philip is likely to continue to center on the same question: how a private reaction became part of one of the most public royal stories of all. For now, Brandreth’s account leaves the focus on Prince Philip’s own words, his frustration, and the lingering power of claims he said were untrue.
