My Lords, speakers this afternoon have been, and will be, covering the involvement of Admiral of the Fleet, His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, in myriad organisations, institutions and good causes. I will cover just one, the Royal Navy, a service to which he was palpably devoted from when he joined, as an 18 year-old, and through the rest of his life. His distinguished war record and subsequent command of a warship, the frigate HMS “Magpie”, gave him the absolute credibility to speak with knowledge, experience and ease to sailors and marines of whatever rank. Incidentally, he was inordinately proud of his role as Commandant General Royal Marines.
His famous curiosity, interest and genuine wish to find out from whomever he spoke to what they were up to, whatever their status or specialisation—engineer, logistician, operator or whatever—meant that he captured the absolute attention of all with whom he engaged, and he invariably won their utmost respect and admiration. The experience of meeting him would leave people more often than not feeling stimulated, always better informed and occasionally storm-torn, but always encouraged and refreshingly clear on His Royal Highness’s view. His high sense of duty and loyalty to the White Ensign could not have been clearer. He epitomised the ideals and ethos of the service, setting a lifelong example to which we can all aspire but which very few would genuinely match. In all, he was an inspiration to everyone in the Royal Navy during his long life.
I can hear his voice in my ear saying, “That’s quite enough, Boyce”, so I finish by saying that he will be greatly missed by the service.
1.49 pm