Prince Philip: What the royal REALLY got up to on trip away from Queen Elizabeth

Prince Philip travelled in the Royal Yacht Britannia in 1956 to Australia, Antarctica and beyond for several months without Queen Elizabeth. The Duke of Edinburgh called the lengthy trip a “diplomatic mission” and travelled forty thousand miles. However, the voyage was far from all work and no play. Prince Philip was thirty-five and “extraordinarily handsome” at the time, author Kitty Kelley said in her 1997 book The Royals.

The author recorded the Duke needed “no help attracting” women thanks to his very good looks - something that no doubt helped fuel the rumour mill from that trip.

The cruise on the Royal Yacht Britannia provided the privacy he wanted to take a break from the public glare, claimed Kelley, which “kicked up a swirl of whispers.”

The author wrote: “His trip to Australia became a sensitive issue for biographers who tried to investigate what happened and for friends who tried to defend him against scurrilous allegations.”

One rumour was that Philip had a daughter with a woman he allegedly had an affair with - and it was hard for some to keep the secret.

“Even a devout monarchist like Barbara Cartland who revers the royal family, talks about a secret love affair that she learned of from Philip’s uncle Lord Mountbatten,” said Kelley.

“‘I know all about Philip’s illegitimate daughter in Melbourne,’ she told an interviewer, Kelley claimed in The Royals, ‘but I’m not going to talk about it.’”

His love affairs were allegedly not restricted to Australia, however.

“The stories of Philip’s women and his trysts were as many and varied as his ports of call.

“‘A couple of lady typists were flown out to join the boat in Singapore,’ reported royal author Brian Hoey.

“‘It was said they didn’t do too much typing. They weren’t the type.”

However, because of Philip’s important status - and who his wife was - gossip was often quelled.

“The rumours dogged Philip from Melbourne to Sydney to Singapore, but as the Queen’s husband he carried a certain immunity,” wrote Kelley.

“No one could touch him without harming her, and no one in Great Britain, not even Republicans, wanted to harm the Queen, who, in 1956, was still considered inviolate.

“So despite his protestations… Philip enjoyed a freewheeling life away from the Palace.”

When the Duke of Edinburgh eventually returned home to his wife - the Queen had a surprise waiting for him.

Elizabeth knew her husband had grown a beard during the trip, so she arranged for everyone in the royal entourage - herself included - to put on fake whiskers.