Prince Philip’s links with the Russian imperial court

The late Duke of Edinburgh would have had so much to say on the abomination being wreaked upon Ukraine. Prince Philip was our last living link with the Russian imperial court. He enjoyed childhood encounters with a killer of Rasputin. He also played his part in trying to bring post-communist Russia round to western ways during that brief, chaotic millennial window of opportunity.

So did the Queen, who still serves tea from the samovar Boris Yeltsin gave her on her state visit to Russia, though she would rather forget the four days in 2003 when the Blair government imposed Vladimir and Lyudmila Putin on her as house guests.

Prince Michael of Kent, for his part, has built something of a career around the Windsor–Romanov connection. With his impressive beard, he bears a resemblance to Tsar Nicholas II, and has long been a devoted patron of several Russian charities (till now).

For the Duke of Edinburgh, however, Russia was even more personal.