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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.’”
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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.”
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Harrold worked for King Charles III from 2004 to 2011. During that time, he served dinners for Philip.
“He would come out with these classic lines and then follow up with … a swear word or something,” Harrold said. “I always remember this one time … I think I was cleaning up after breakfast in the dining room. I looked outside and saw this gentleman walking around. Immediately, I recognized it was Prince Philip. … I went to one of the other butlers and said, ‘Should we go out and see if he needs anything?’ They all looked at me and said, ‘No!’ And I said, ‘Why?’ They all continued, ‘No, no, no!’”
“I think they were a bit nervous of him,” Harrold said with a chuckle. “He was blunt … he wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea, if I can say that. … But I adored Prince Philip. That’s what I liked about him. I liked the fact that he didn’t suffer fools, and he did speak his mind.”
“The household’s a big organization. There are a lot of people telling you what to do, where to go, your schedules, who you’re meeting, who you’re speaking to, this car’s going to get you there, this helicopter’s going to do this. Normally, the royals just go with it. But Philip would be like, ‘Why?’”
“He didn’t mince his words,” Harrold said. “If he swore at you, he swore at you. But people liked it when he swore at you. … If he swore at you, that was you getting to see the real Prince Philip, which many people liked.”
British broadcaster and photographer Helena Chard shared a similar sentiment.
“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!”
British royals expert Hilary Fordwich told Fox News Digital the U.K. press loved capturing the one-liners Philip was bound to make at royal engagements.
“Regarding his daughter Princess Anne’s love for horses, he said in the 1970s, ‘If it doesn’t fart or eat hay, she isn’t interested,’” Fordwich said. “In the 1980s, he remarked about the Duke and Duchess of York’s house that ‘it looks like a tart’s bedroom.’”
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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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