Prince Philip and the edited CV

What started as a teenage correspondence has turned into a life sentence which he has borne with fortitude enlivened by occasional verbal infelicities.

But he had a number of hurdles to overcome, starting with some creative CV editing.

Being born into the Greek royal family was not such a big impediment in itself.

The family name was, so the German-Dutch house of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glucksburg was carefully airbrushed out of the story.

Next to go was his religious affiliation.

Her Majesty may be an Anglican who magically transmutes into a Presbyterian when she crosses the border to Scotland, but a Greek Orthodox spouse would complicate the story rather too much.

The Greek and Dutch royal titles also vanished.

The Greek bit had become rather academic - his family were exiled when he was but a nipper.

Becoming a naturalised British subject was no problem.

But what name to adopt?

The solution was to adopt Mountbatten - the anglicised name of his maternal grandfather Prince Louis of Battenberg.

His immediate family were a bit more difficult.

Big sister Margarita was married to a German army officer who had fought the Soviets - not so popular in the immediate post-war solidarity with our Soviet allies.

Sister Theodora was married to the impressively named Berthold Friedrich Wilhelm Ernst August Heinrich Karl, Margrave of Baden.

Sister Cecile is best glossed over, having married her first cousin Georg Donatus, Hereditary Grand Duke of Hesse.

They both joined the Nazi Party.

Sophie was equally embarrassing.

She married Prince Christoph Ernst August of Hess - an SS officer, Luftwaffe major, aide to Himmler and intelligence chief to Hermann Goering.

He was killed in the invasion of Italy thus he could not go to the wedding.

Nor was it thought politic to invite the sisters.

Maybe they were sent a piece of the wedding cake as consolation.

Nick Wright
Faversham