Welcome to the era of the boring Royals

The news that Prince Philip will be retiring from his royal duties from August is a terrible blow. It’s entirely fair, of course. The Prince, after all is 95, and will be 96 by the time he retires. He has done far more than his share of Royal duties; last year he had 219 official engagements in the UK, and he’s Britain’s longest serving consort in history. But it’s still a terrible shame, because where will the fun be in the royal family without Prince Philip? 

I remember nervously waiting in a queue at St. James’s Palace to receive my Gold Duke of Edinburgh’s award  – which was, of course, all his idea – worrying what questions he might ask and how I might be embarrassed. (Though, having chosen polo as my Duke of Edinburgh sport, taking the mickey would have been entirely fair). Sadly – or perhaps happily – the day passed without incident… I seem to remember that there were others in my group who’d done their Gold expedition by kayak or something, which proved far more interesting than anything I had to say.