Queen Elizabeth broke royal tradition by having Prince Philip join her in the delivery room when she gave birth to Prince Edward.
The British monarch had read in women’s magazines about fathers being involved in childbirth and wanted to do the same, according to Ingrid Seward in her book, ‘My Husband and I: The Inside Story Of 70 Years Of Royal Marriage’.
She shared: "The Duke of Edinburgh was actually holding his wife’s hand as their youngest was born on March 10, 1964. The Queen, by then aged 37, had asked him to be there; she’d been keenly reading women’s magazines that stressed the importance of involving fathers in childbirth and had become fascinated by the idea. Thus Philip became the first royal father in modern history to witness the arrival of one of his children … Compassion comes from the Queen. And the duty and discipline comes from him Philip."
And the Queen liked to spend as much time as she could with her children and would let the nanny leave Edward playing on the floor of the study as she went over State papers.
Seward added: "’Leave him with me, Mabel,’ the Queen would say some mornings to the nanny, and he’d be left with his mother, playing on the floor of her study while she worked at her desk on her State papers."
When Edward decided to leave the Royal Marines in 1987 after just four months, Philip was "most sympathetic".
Seward shared: "Philip was in fact the most sympathetic. He understood his son’s decision, which he considered a brave one, and supported him fully. Edward had explained to him that he felt he was never going to be able to fit in as well as he’d hoped. ‘I was always going to have a policeman there,’ he said. ‘I could never go out with the rest of the lads into the town, as everyone knew who I was. I didn’t see the way, really, it was going to work.’ Many in their circle know that each has a personal preference for one son over the others. For the Queen, Andrew will always be her favourite, while for the Duke it is Edward."
Queen Elizabeth broke royal tradition
