The Queen was “madly in love” with Philip and believed “tolerance was the key” in the marriage, the expert claims

The Queen was “madly in love with Prince Philip” and believed “tolerance was the key” to a happy marriage, a royal expert has claimed.

Historian Dr Tessa Dunlop said the late monarch’s marriage was so successful because the Queen gave Prince Philip the “stability” the Duke of Edinburgh sadly never had growing up.

The late royal was born just as the Greek royal family fell to a military dictatorship and the rest of his childhood was spent on the run in Europe before eventually being enrolled at Gordonstoun School in Scotland.

Talking to Ok! magazine, the royal expert – who has written the biography Elizabeth and Philip: A Story of Young Love, Marriage and Monarchy – said the Queen remained “madly in love” with Prince Philip throughout their 73-year marriage.

Dr Dunlop said: ‘I think Philip loved Elizabeth. I have never doubted that. She changed his life.

“She gave him stability he never had, she gave him wealth he never had. She gave him a platform he couldn’t have dreamed of. She gave him everything he didn’t have.

That said, the expert claimed that both “independence” and “tolerance” were key to the success of the couple’s lasting marriage and that the Queen was “very good at giving Prince Philip” space when he needed it.

Dr Dunlop then referred to a speech Prince Philip gave on the couple’s silver wedding anniversary in 1972, in which he described his wife as having “tolerance in abundance”.

Last week, the expert described how the Queen “cut Prince Philip some slack over his friendships with women”, as the late monarch was aware her husband was forced to “walk a tightrope” as her consort.

The royal expert appeared on Mail Plus’ Palace Confidential series and commented on a storyline in the new series of The Crown in which Prince Philip is carrying on an extramarital affair with Penny Knatchbull.

Countess Mountbatten of Burma became the Duke’s “closest confidante” and was one of 30 mourners to attend his funeral in April 2021.

The Netflix hit series is reported to have filmed “intimate scenes” between Prince Philip and Penny Knatchbull – who were 32 years apart – which hit screens last week, just over two months after Queen Elizabeth II’s death.

Speaking to presenter Jo Elvin, Dr Dunlop said: “The bottom line is he wasn’t sexually faithful – that’s what people have come to.

“But whether he was or not, the Queen and he clearly had a loving and lasting marriage and a partnership that she leaned on and he leaned on. They were both dependent on each other.

In 1947, Prince Philip renounced his claim to the Greek and Danish thrones so that he could step into the role of queen consort.

When the Queen inherited the throne in 1952, it was confirmed that the royal household would be known as ‘Windsor’ – before eight years later the couple decided that their descendants without HRH status would be surnamed Mountbatten-Windsor.

Although they hoped they would be able to remain at Clarence House, Prime Minister Winston Churchill – who was in office when King VI passed away – was determined that the young couple would take up residence at Buckingham Palace.

Commenting on the impact this had on their marriage, Dr Dunlop continued: “I think the Queen understood Philip’s need for freedom. She was asking a lot of an alpha male to step in behind her and support her. To give up his name. To give up his home.

Speaking to the Duke of Edinburgh’s alleged infidelity, the expert said: “I think the Queen absolutely understood the tightrope that Prince Philip was being asked to walk and she cut him some slack.

When the Queen inherited the throne in 1952, it was confirmed that the royal house would be called ‘Windsor’ – before eight years later the couple decided that their descendants without HRH status would be surnamed Mountbatten-Windsor.

Although they hoped they would be able to remain at Clarence House, Prime Minister Winston Churchill – who was in office when King VI passed away – was adamant that the young couple would take up residence at Buckingham Palace.

Commenting on the impact this had on their marriage, Dr Dunlop continued: “I think the Queen understood Philip’s need for freedom. She was asking a lot of an alpha male to step in behind her and support her. To give up his name. To give up his home.

The expert told of the Duke of Edinburgh’s alleged infidelity: “I think the Queen absolutely understood the tightrope that Prince Philip was being asked to walk and she cut him some slack.”