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Prince Philip was known for firing off swear-filled remarks — and palace staff quickly learned to keep up.
Grant Harrold, King Charles III’s former butler, has written a memoir, “The Royal Butler: My Remarkable Life in Royal Service.” In it, the etiquette expert described how he overheard “a few choice words” from the late Duke of Edinburgh at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding in 2018.
“Once all the formalities were over, we watched as the happy couple, and then the other members of the royal family, filed out of the chapel,” Harrold wrote. “When Prince Philip came out, he turned to the queen and said, ‘Thank f— that’s over.’”
Archewell, which handles the office of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, told Fox News Digital they had no comment.
Harrold told Fox News Digital it wasn’t the first time Queen Elizabeth II’s husband was blunt.
“One thing I became very aware of was that he said it as it was,” Harrold said. “He didn’t hold back. He was well known for using his alternative words, let’s put it that way. As I mentioned regarding his comment, when he came out of the chapel, that was what I had witnessed over the years. That’s how he was.”
WATCH: PRINCE PHILIP WAS AN OUTSPOKEN ROYAL WHO NEVER HELD BACK: BUTLER
“There was never a dull moment when Prince Philip took center stage,” Chard told Fox News Digital.
“Perpetually in hot water over his inappropriate comments, Prince Philip was a hoot to be around. With a permanent glint in his eye, Philip was the rock that kept Queen Elizabeth smiling. Although on one occasion she was horrified when a family member remarked on her flawless complexion and Philip piped up, ‘Yes, and she’s like that all over.’”
“As a photographer, I suffered the wrath of Prince Philip’s tongue,” Chard recalled. “An impatient Philip peered at me and quipped, ‘Oh no, not you again.’ I didn’t take it personally. It actually broke the ice, and I clinched that winning shot.”
Famously, in 2015, Philip attended an event in London to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Britain between the Royal Air Force and the German Luftwaffe. On video, a frustrated Philip was heard telling a photographer, “Just take the f—–g picture!”
During the recession in 1981, Philip was reported to have said, ‘Everybody was saying we must have more leisure. Now they are complaining they are unemployed.’”
Philip developed a reputation for being impatient, demanding and blunt to the point of rudeness, The Associated Press reported. The outlet said many criticized his behavior, labeling it racist, sexist, or out of touch.
In 1995, for example, he asked a Scottish driving instructor, “How do you keep the natives off the booze long enough to pass the test?” Seven years later in Australia, while visiting Aboriginal people with the queen, he asked, “Do you still throw spears at each other?” On a visit to a military barracks, he asked a sea cadet instructor if she worked in a strip club.
Fordwich noted that in 1986, during a state visit to China, Philip reportedly told a British student, “If you stay here much longer, you will go home with slitty eyes.”
In 1994, while visiting the Cayman Islands, he also reportedly said, “Aren’t most of you descended from pirates?”
Royal expert Ian Pelham Turner previously told Fox News Digital he was familiar with Philip’s blistering words.
“There are many expletives that could describe Philip, who was known for his outspoken views on anyone who would care to listen,” Turner said. “I used to be a royal photographer. Whenever I was given that task, I would check my life insurance, as he could be dangerous at times, especially when he was on his horse and carriage.”
“More than once, he would … full charge towards me,” he recalled. “Once I had to dive into a thorn bush to get out of his way, and he muttered a similar oath to me, even though I was doing his carriage championships a massive favor. In reality, he was my least popular royal to work with. He led his own life. … So, swearing after [Meghan and Harry’s] wedding is just par for a man who thought he could get away with his behavior.”
Philip spent more than seven decades supporting his wife, England’s longest-reigning monarch. In his lifetime, he fulfilled more than 20,000 royal engagements to promote British interests at home and abroad. He died in 2021 at age 99.
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