Formula 1 world mourns loss of Prince Philip. The news of the day is undoubtedly the death of the Prince Philip Mountbatten Duke of Edinburgh, husband for over 73 years of Queen Elizabeth, sovereign of the United Kingdom. The prince, who passed away at Windsor Castle at the age of 99 two months before his 100th birthday, has dedicated almost his entire life to the service of his country, despite being born in Corfu as Philip of Greece and Denmark. In recent weeks, Filippo had undergone a heart operation following an infection. He will be buried in the next few days in 'Frogmore Gardens', the garden of Windsor Castle to which he was very attached. The UK-based Formula 1 teams wanted to pay tribute to his memory and to the Royal Family devastated by this grave grief.

“We are saddened to learn of the passing of His Royal Highness Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. His life was dedicated to the service of his country, which he did with unwavering devotion. Our deepest condolences go out to the Queen and the rest of the Royal Family“, Williams writes in a tweet.

Red Bull Racing Honda, April 9: “our entire team is saddened to hear of the passing of Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh. Flags will fly at half mast at our Milton Keynes Campus in remembrance of his devotion to Great Britain”.

“I am deeply saddened to learn of the death of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. He spent his life for Britain and was very proud of the initiatives to inspire younger people, for example the Duke of Edinburgh’s Awards. I have had the pleasure of meeting him on several occasions, most often at the awards ceremony of these Awards. His passion for inspiring youth and community initiatives were remarkable qualities. Everyone will miss him so much“, wrote Red Bull team principal Chris Horner.

“Everyone at the Alpine, a UK-based team, wishes to extend their deepest condolences to the Queen and Royal Family at this sad time“, wrote the Twitter profile of Alpine.

“Everyone at McLaren is deeply saddened by the news of the passing of HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. We join people around the world in mourning her loss and our thoughts go out to Her Majesty the Queen and the Royal Family“, added the profile of McLaren.

“All Formula 1 wants to pay homage to Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, who dedicated his entire life to Great Britain and served his country with pride and devotion“, this is the memory of F1.

Philip, the prince who loved engines and fast driving. Savina Confaloni. 10 April, Milan.

The Duke of Edinburgh has cultivated all his life his passion for cars, driven in person until the 2019 accident with a Land Rover.

Prince Philip driving a Land Rover in 2004.

For the British, His Royal Highness Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, was a great lover of engines in all respects.

Prince Philip's 1954 Lagonda car sold at auction.

His car collection included MG and Aston Martin and one of his favourites, the 1954 3-liter Aston Martin Lagonda, commissioned with unique features for the royal couple, was then auctioned for £ 350,000, around 408 thousand euros, about three times its ordinary price. The prince has never hidden his passion for fast driving and his accident in 2019, at the age of 97, at the wheel of a Range Rover remains in the annals.

Philip aboard the 1950s Aston Martin Lagonda leaving-Brittania in 1954.

Prince Philip and the cars

Between hunting trips, institutional commitments and royal receptions, Prince Philip has never denied himself the pleasure of driving, cultivating his passion for engines to the last. He has tested all the most exclusive cars in the world, relying also on the well-stocked garage of her Majesty.

From the sportiest models to Jaguars, Aston Martin and Land Rover, the Duke of Edinburgh enjoyed getting close to all kinds of vehicles: he was spotted behind the wheel of a Chieftan tank and a double-decker Leyland Bus and seen chatting amiably at a Formula 1 Grand Prix with James Hunt.

The pleasure of driving (fast)

A letter sent to writer Betty Spencer Shew, who was preparing the official book on the royal wedding - an editorial gem dated 1947 - explained in detail how much Prince Philip enjoyed driving. Queen Elizabeth said in the letter that Philip often drove "fast" and was "proud" of his classic MG. "He took me around once in London - the Queen writes in the letter - and it was a lot of fun, except it was like sitting on the street, with wheels almost as high as your head."

Aston Martin Lagonda 3 liter Drophead Coupe.

Aston Martin Lagonda

One of the real jewels of the Duke of Edinburgh was the splendid 1954 Aston Martin Lagonda 3-liter Dhc. Prince Philip had decided in 1954 to commission a sports car in which he and Queen Elizabeth could drive around with all the comforts and luxuries of the case and the choice fell on the Aston Martin Lagonda 3-liter Drophead Coupé. The model was the first to win the royal mandate at Aston Martin Lagonda Ltd: finished in a bespoke Edinburgh Green shade, paired with a gray leather upholstery, the refined four-seater Lagonda remains one of 20 Mark I examples built, used by the Duke of Edinburgh for his personal travels until 1961. The model was equipped with a number of special features such as the private telephone from which he called Prince Charles and Princess Anne. A frequenter of The Thursday Club, an exclusive meeting place with members of the caliber of Baron Nahum, David Niven, Peter Ustinov and Francis Bacon, the prince arrived with his Lagonda at Cowdray Park for polo matches and also used the car to bring the young prince Carlo to the Cheam School in Headley. The Lagonda was also loaded aboard the Royal Yacht Britannia for the prince's long Commonwealth tour of 1956-1957 and was used in Melbourne for the opening of the Olympic Games in 1956.

When Prince Philip bantered with the Hesketh boys.

Prince Philip with Lord Hesketh and James Hunt. ©TheCahierArchive.

By any measure, Prince Philip led an extraordinary existence.

The Duke of Edinburgh always walked a few paces behind the Queen, but for 68 years Philip upheld his oath of remaining Elizabeth's "liege man of life and limb and of earthly worship".

Prince Philip was also a lifelong petrolhead (literally "passionate about petrol") who owned and often drove in anger a number of classic cars. He was also a visitor over the years to the odd British Grand Prix.

In 1975, the Duke of Edinburgh paid a visit to the grid at Silverstone and dropped in on the Hesketh team to salute its proud owner, Thomas Alexander Fermor-Hesketh, 3rd Baron Hesketh and future F1 world champion James Hunt.

Protocol was never at the forefront of the Hesketh team's priorities, but on that day, the boys were on their best behaviour.

Prince Philip treasures time driving as his own - but has always been a daredevil. By Taboola. January 19, 2019.

The Duke of Edinburgh still drives regularly at 97, but was this week involved in a crash near the Sandringham estate.

Prince Philip has always enjoyed being behind the wheel, even if the Queen has not always enjoyed being his passenger. Getty Images.

In August 1947, three months before his November wedding to the world’s most eligible Princess, Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten RN took delivery of a red two-seater MG TC.

It was to be his pride and joy and driving the prized machine at speed around the roads – the narrower the better – was to become one of his escapes from the restrictions of the court life that were about to engulf him.

His princess was not so keen on her fiance’s love of speed.

On one occasion, on a mad dash from HMS Royal Arthur at Corsham in Wiltshire to London, Prince Philip skidded into a tree, damaging a fence and his car and twisting his knee in the process.

An indignant press naturally asked the question: “what would have happened if the Princess had been with him?”

Prince Philip 'threatened to throw Queen out of car' after she 'yelped' in terror.

Prince Philip, pictured driving the then Princess Elizabeth away from Clarence House in 1951, drove the Queen around in the early days of their relationship - not without mishap. The Prince has been involved in a number of nasty crashes over the years. Getty Images.

Philip on a family day out at the Windsor Horse Trials in 1968.

And later, when he managed to side-swipe a taxi, with the Princess in the car, the criticism increased.

Philip has always been a daredevil and a highly competitive sportsman.

His naturally impatient nature and somewhat Germanic determination meant that, as long as he was able to do so, he would run everywhere, take steps three at a time and wait for no one.

Philip was attracted to daredevil sports, not for the sake of it, but because he enjoyed the competition of trying and often succeeding beating everyone else and doing it at super speed.

The Prince has always loved fast cars and, from the original red sports car he had when he romanced the Princess in the 1940s, he upgraded to his MG TC and then an Aston Martin and a Lagonda 3-litre coupe, which had a top speed of 104mph.

'Speedy' Prince Philip has been 'told to give up driving since the 1940s'

A 1949 MG TC

A Lagonda 3-litre coupe.

With so much of his life taken up with sporting activities and once a full diary of public engagements, Philip has always relished the time he has to himself.

He still does.

Driving around the Sandringham estate in Norfolk on some mission or other, he likes to be in control of his own vehicle as he likes to be in control of his life.

It will remain to be seen if Philip will now take the advice of his family and give up his beloved driving.

But if he is forced to do so he will do it with the same determination as he has done everything in his life. He will, in his own words, “just get on with it.”

A life on the road: how daredevil Prince Philip has enjoyed getting behind the wheel of cars, tanks, motorbikes and even a BUS before his Land Rover crash. January 18, 2019. By Amie Gordon for Mailonline. Published: 18 January 2019.

The Queen was won over by the young Prince who wore a navy uniform and drove a 'fast' MG sports car.

Despite his shock car crash last night, royal watchers would not have been too surprised to see the Duke of Edinburgh behind the wheel, particularly at the Sandringham estate in eastern England.

Prince Philip has been a lifelong petrol head, relishing the opportunity to jump behind the wheel at royal visits throughout the years.

He has cruised around in school coaches, double-decker buses, tanks and bikes and owned an impressive personal collection of rare and vintage motors,

Indeed the dashing Prince wooed a young Prince Elizabeth in 1939 wife when he turned up in his 'fast MG sports car' and took her for a ride around London.

Here, we take a look at the Duke of Edinburgh's love of cars and motors throughout the years.

The Duke Of Edinburgh is pictured here on March 20, 1969 on a visit to the Regiment of The Queen's Royal Hussars at Bovington Camp in Dorset. Prince Philip can be seen in his uniform sitting in the driving seat of the Chieftan Tank as Colonel in Chief of the regiment sits beside the 120mm gun and they take orders from Sergeant Bill McLernon.

April 1957: The Duke of Edinburgh is seen trying the passenger's seat of the new 3.5 litre Jaguar XKSS sports car during his visit to the Motor Industry Research Association's headquarters near Nuneaton, Warwickshire.

Prince Philip at the wheel of a Leyland Bus during his visit to their Lancashire Factory in July 1966. At the shout of 'fares please,' he slipped the double-decker bus into gear and began cruising around the mile-long test track. His passengers included Sir Donald Stokes, Managing Director of Leyland Motors - the makers of the bus - and Sir William Black, the company chairman.

August 1964: the Duke Of Edinburgh drives his daughter Princess Anne through Windsor Great Park.

Queen Elizabeth laughing at Philip's attempts to drive a minibus in Orkney.

10 August 1960: during the Royal tour of the Shetland Isles, Prince Philip drove the Queen around in a Morris van which was used as a school bus.

May 1955: Prince Philip Drives to the European Horse Trials with the Queen and the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester in a Land Rover.

July 1967: the Duke of Edinburgh, who was involved in a road traffic accident at the edge of the Sandringham Estate, raising his hat as he drives off from Heathrow Airport after arriving back with the Queen from their weeks’ tour of Canada.

4 December 1962: the Duke of Edinburgh, appears to be having a little trouble getting into a Fiat 500cc baby car before testing the tiny vehicle on the factory’s track during his visit to the Fiat plant in Turin. The Duke was paying a private visit to Italy as a guest of the Italian Marquis Medici Del Vascello on the latter’s estate near Turin.

February 1960: Prince Philip at the wheel of his car as he arrived back at Buckingham Palace, from Sandringham to be with the Queen as she expected her third child, Prince Andrew.

The Duke of Edinburgh about to get into an Aston Martin car, driven by the Prince of Wales, outside King Edward VII Hospital for Officers in Beaumont Street, London. The Royal father and son had visited Princess Anne, a patent at the hospital.

The Duke of Edinburgh reviews parade of vintage cars.

Coventry Climax: when Prince Philip visited legendary F1 engine firm. January 20, 2019.

Looking back on the heyday of Coventry Climax - photographs from the Coventry Telegraph archives.

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh visits Coventry Climax, legendary F1 engine firm.

Building some of the best engines in the industry, Coventry Climax supplied F1 racers with engines, as well as leading the forklift manufacturing trade for decades.

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh visits Coventry Climax. 21st June 1966.

Originally based at Friars Lane and East Street Works, Coventry Climax started life in 1917 when engine manufacturers Johnson and Smith took over the Coventry Simplex works on East Street.

Within a couple of years it was bought by the Pelham Lee family, who started supplying engines to the dozens of car manufacturers active in Coventry through the 1920s.

When Swift Motors collapsed in 1931, Coventry Climax was left with an overstock of engines, which it turned to powering generators.

The generators were sold to fire brigades to power their water pumps.

After the war, Coventry Climax moved its business away from car engines and into other markets, including diesels for marine and fire pumps and fork lift trucks.

In 1946 the ET199 was announced, which the company claimed was the first British produced forklift truck.

The ET199 was designed to carry a 4000lb load with a 24 inch load centre and with a 9 ft lift height.

The first Coventry Climax racing engine appeared at the 1954 24 Hours of Le Mans and the following year the first Climax engines began to appear in Formula One in the back of Cooper chassis.

Stirling Moss scored the company's first Formula One victory in Argentina in 1958 and the company would go on to secure 22 Grand Prix victories before 1966.

In 1960, Coventry Climax went public, but all its stock was bought by Jaguar three years later.

It was part of British Leyland until the troubled firm sold it off in 1982.

It was run privately until the receivers were called in 1986.

The longstanding company was then bought by Kalmar, who moved production to Shrewsbury in 2009.

Prince Philip of Greece dressed for the Gordonstoun School's production of Macbeth, in Scotland in 1935. Fox Photos / Getty Images.

Exclusive: Prince Phillip joins Ferrari Driver Academy. January 26, 2019.

Hot on the heels of signing talented rookie Mick Schumacher, Ferrari has added another famous name to it’s Driver Academy – His Royal Highness Prince Philip.

“If anyone needs driving coaching, it’s Philip”, Ferrari Team Principal Mattia Binotto told SHOCKED ONLOOKERS.

“He has done some carting in his time though – mainly horse drawn”.

The announcement comes after the Prince crashed his Land Rover during free practice near Kensington.

Naturally the Prince underwent a rigorous assessment process.

“I wanted to make sure he wasn’t Arrivabene in a bald-cap” Binotto said.

The Prince had a seat fitting last Friday.

“We also fitted his crown with a Hans device,” a Ferrari engineer confirmed “and we’ve set his team radio to Radio 4”.

Prince Philip, sharing a joke with, then, Ferrari driver Niki Lauda at Silverstone's International Trophy in 1975. Ferrari team manager Luca Montezemolo looks on.

At 97, Philip is by far the oldest member of the driving academy and one of the oldest members of the human race.

“He’s still younger than Kimi,” Binotto rightly points out.

Buckingham Palace released an official statement saying: “his Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh is delighted to join the Ferrari Driver Academy, provided there aren’t too many Italians.”

Ferrari won out against other leading teams vying for the Prince’s services.

“Red Bull reportedly wanted to sign him for their Seniors’ Program and Land Rover wanted him to do the Dakar” a palace insider revealed.

“Probably a good thing thought the Prince didn’t make it to Peru for all concerned.”

The Williams Formula One team has completed its driver line-up for the new season, with Prince Philip the surprise choice behind the wheel. Critics say Prince Philip, 97, is nothing more than a rookie driver who could be a danger to others on the track. “Not so,” explained a Williams spokesman. “It’s well known that Royal protocol dictates you have to remain two steps behind the Duke at all times. “We can’t wait to see the frustration on Lewis Hamilton’s face.

It comes after rumours last year the Palace planned to secure the Prince a spot on the Formula 1 grid for 2019.

“The Prince wanted to purchase ‘Force India’ and change the name to ‘Force British India’” a palace insider confirmed.

“I say ‘purchase’, I mean ‘conquer.’”

In the end, the deal fell apart.

“The Royal Family are rich, but they don’t have Stroll money.”

However, the Duke faces a potential problem should he ever line up on the grid.

“He will take a 10 place grid penalty for receiving a new hip,” the FIA confirmed.

Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, laugh on December 4, 1961 as they watch the Susu dancers during their visit at the Northern Province of Sierra Leone. Picture: AFP.

Sex, lies and infidelity: the one time Prince Philip responded to cheating rumours. By Lifestyle Reporter. Aug 26, 2020.

In 1947, cricket was a long-time passion of Prince Philip's and this picture shows him practising in the nets while serving in the Royal Navy.

The Duke of Edinburgh, seen as a loyal and worthy partner to Queen Elizabeth, has always been the dark horse of the British royal family.

A prince with no home when he wed Elizabeth in 1947, Prince Philip’s role was to dutifully support his queen, a role which is well documented in Netflix drama “The Crown."

But wherever he wants, so did the controversy. Dogged by rumours of infidelity during their decades-long marriage, Philip was known for his wondering eye.

One could even suggest his adoration of the opposite sex was seen as a distraction from his royal duties.

But a new book suggests the duke addressed these rumours head on in the past. According to Philip Eade, the author of ’Prince Philip: The Turbulent Early Life of the Man Who Married Queen Elizabeth II', the duke was known as “The Naked Waiter.”

The book depicts the prince in quite a risqué light, suggesting that he enjoyed “rip-roaring stag parties.” Allegedly Prince Philip once served dinner to some guests wearing only a mask and a tiny lace apron, Showbiz CheatSheet reported.

Despite rumours of cheating, the duke has stood firm. “Privately, he will say, ‘how could I?'” Mike Parker, the duke’s first Private Secretary told The Telegraph in 2004. “‘I’ve had a detective in my company, night and day, since 1947.’”

Although "The Crown“ doesn’t mention Philip’s alleged affairs, it does allude to his penchant for women.

Prince Philip had an affair with Penny Romsey for decades, the biographer says. The pair are pictured together in 1975.

His list of alleged conquests includes stage performer Patricia Kirkwood and Sacha Hamilton, the Duchess of Abercorn.

I was Prince Philip’s ‘mink knickers’ woman. By Serena French. May 9, 2017.

Prince Philip and Serena French. Getty Images; Andreas Trauttmansdorff.

Prince Philip, husband of the Queen, announced last week that he was retiring from public life at the age of 95.

For the media, the tabloids in particular, it’s a great loss. Philip was never boring. Over the course of many decades of ribbon-cuttings, charity appearances and chit-chat with the riff-raff, the Queen’s consort became legendary for many a politically incorrect quip and ripe remark.

To a tourist in Budapest: “you can’t have been here long, you haven’t got a pot belly.”

To a Scottish driving instructor: “how do you keep the natives off the booze long enough to pass the test?”

To an Aboriginal leader: “do you still throw spears at each other?”

And to me, in the fall of 1993, a question about my underwear.

Yes, I was Philipped and while the British press treat it as a gaffe or embarrassment, it’s something I will remember fondly.

I was a young freelance writer in Toronto and had just landed a party column in the Globe and Mail newspaper. My first assignment was to cover a top ticket fundraiser for the World Wildlife Fund. Five hundred of the city’s movers and shakers paid $125 to witness an endangered species in an unnatural habitat: Prince Philip was attending the reception as the WWF’s international president.

The Toronto establishment had turned out in force for the chance of princely proximity. As a junior reporter, my big plan was to hang back and observe, a fly on the wall.

The following was my account of what happened, published on Oct. 21, 1993:

during the Join His Royal Highness cocktail reception, I’m having trouble looking genteel and juggling pen, notebook, purse, drink and cheese cubes. For lack of hands, the pen goes between my teeth for a moment while I reorganize.

When I look up, there he is.

His Royal Highness has strolled over, unflanked by hangers-on, and we are eye to eye. But I have a pen in my mouth. And to give my stunned grin that extra plebian touch, it’s a Bic pen, the 69-cent orange job with the blue cap, which by some benevolent stroke of providence is not chewed on one end. The pen momentarily spares me from squeaking out some pathetic, protocol-free address along the lines of “Hi.”

Mercifully the Duke steps into the breach.

“You’re taking notes, are you?”

It’s a blur, but I make some noise in confirmation.

“What for?” he has to ask.

I manage to remember the name of the paper I’m representing and the section, “Fashion,” but still have not grasped “Your Highness.”

The royal inane chit-chat wheels start turning: “oh, fashion.” He pauses, as the appropriate fashion-related sound bites come down the pipe.

“I suppose you’ll be looking out for people wearing mink coats, then,” he quips. Much hearty ho-ho-ing all around, and laughing protests, “surely no one would wear fur to something like this.”

‘It is very flattering, but a bit embarrassing. Loads of people heard him talk about the knickers. I felt myself blushing and everyone started laughing.’

[There were many fur coats owned by the World Wildlife fund supporters in the coat check.]

“Well you never know what they are wearing underneath,” the Prince suggests.

He’s on a cheeky roll now. He leans in and touches my arm with the royal digits, chuckling at the kicker coming on.

“You’re not wearing mink knickers, are you?”

In true polite Canadian fashion, my editor read the column and I cut it to fit, along with my coverage of the gala premiere of “Showboat!” and it was buried on Page 6 of the style section of the paper.

The next morning, the phone rang.

“Hello, is this Serena French? Carolyn Graham from the Sun in London. I just wanted to ask you a few questions about Prince Philip.”

“Hello, this is Eric Dowd from the Daily Mail.”

“Hello, this is . . .”

Soon my editors started to call. Reporters had been calling the Globe and Mail trying to find me. They were posing as editors saying they wanted to offer me freelance work and needed my number. They wanted to know what I looked like. About how tall? Hair color? How old is she? Do you have her address?

The next day, I was awakened by my roommate banging on the door at an ungodly 8 a.m.

“Laurie is downstairs, she wants to talk to you.”

My downstairs neighbor Laurie was furious.

“Are you in trouble? Like, with the law.”

When Laurie, who like me was tall and dark-haired, had stepped out of our house to go to work that morning, a photographer had started chasing her down the sidewalk, clicking away, insisting that she was Serena French.

“I am not.” “Don’t lie to me, I know you’re Serena French.”

When I explained what had happened, she flipped.

“My picture is going to end up on the cover of the paper, with like, ‘woman gives birth to hedgehog’”.

She wanted me to get the pictures of her back.

The next day she was not on the cover of the paper.

The 4 million-circulation Sun blared a headline in a type size reserved for a world war: “HAVE YOU GOT MINK KNICKERS ON, DEAR?” What Philip asked fashion girl.”

At home, fashion girl was under siege.

My mother called. Her friend in Florida would be sending the clipping of the Miami Herald. Someone else called and said I was in Newsweek.

The writer of the cover story for the Sun in particular had a great career in fiction ahead of her with the quotes she made up from my yes or no answers, next to the topless lady with the pretty earrings on Page 3:

“Serena, in her twenties, works for Canada’s Globe and Mail newspaper. “She said last night: ‘it is very flattering, but a bit embarrassing. Loads of people heard him talk about the knickers. I felt myself blushing and everyone started laughing.’ “She added: ‘I wasn’t offended at all. He was just a man being a man.’”

The writer went on in her own words with quote marks around them.

“‘But it was totally out of the blue. I think he was just trying to be pleasant and trying to make me laugh. He succeeded.’

‘He stared into my eyes the whole time.

‘I’m single, so it’s not going to upset any man in my life. I just hope the Prince doesn’t get into trouble!’”

My editor called again for an update. “You really should get all dressed up and go outside. It’s just going to be a 24-hour news cycle. Give the story some legs.”

The often-vicious Frank magazine, the Canadian equivalent of Gawker, had come out and said the Sun and the Daily Mail had called offering me $2,000 for a “picture feature,” written with their editors.

“No way, says French,” wrote Frank magazine. “That’s checkbook journalism and I’ve already been paid for the item, no doubt most handsomely by the generous Globe (shurley, shome mishtake?! — ed.).”

They went on to say I had recognized the remark as primo gossip column fodder, “but editors on both sides of the Atlantic are trying to cast French as a poor, young girl reporter — she’s 28 — who was embarrassed and mortified by a dirty digger.”

The rest of what they wrote about Prince Philip’s reputation is probably libelous.

The Daily Mail had asked Buckingham Palace for comment: “we cannot possibly comment on a private conversation at a private party, but we have not received any complaints.”

I had not filed a complaint, but that didn’t stop a Toronto newspaper columnist from claiming I should have: “did Philip get away with it?”

“What of the untold toll on staunch ‘Serena’ — on the whole dreadful aftermorn of the psyche: tears, nightmares, night sweats, obsessive fear she will be nobody unless she gets a pair of animal underpants? We think the Queen should know about this.”

The Queen maybe knows about it. I’m in books about her. The mink knickers girl.

So many made up what I thought about the comment. Was he making a pass? No. Did I think it was funny? Yes. I was amused this week to see that the mink quote was included in so many of Prince Philip’s greatest “hits.” It reminded me that in the stuffy world of the royals, at least he knows how to crack a joke.

Serena French is The Post’s fashion editor.

These are some of the Duke of Edinburgh’s most excruciating comments.

“When a man opens a car door for his wife, it’s either a new car or a new wife”.

“I don’t think a prostitute is more moral than a wife, but they are doing the same thing”.

Queen Elizabeth II (born 1926) is the only person in Britain who can drive without a license or number plate on her state car. January 18, 2019.

Queen Elizabeth II in a Daimler of 1957.

If Prince Philip viscerally loved driving, the same can be said, albeit less markedly, of his wife Queen Elizabeth.

According to British law, the Queen does not need a driving license because driving licenses are issued in her name. She is the Sovereign.

The 92-year-old has been driving since she was 19. She was then titled Princess Elizabeth. She had not yet been crowned (that happens in 1953 at age 27) and the BBC reports that she did indeed, in 1945, have a driving license. She learned to drive at a training center at the wartime Auxiliary Territorial Service. Known as Second Subaltern Elizabeth Windsor, she trained in London as a mechanic and military truck and ambulance driver. She is the only female member of the Royal Family to have entered the armed forces and is the only living head of state who served in World War II.

Taken at the Mechanical Transport Training Section, Camberley, Surrey, Princess Elizabeth in overalls changes a tire on a military Tilly truck. March 1945.

She likes to drive.

The Queen attends a polo match at Windsor, UK, 4th August 1958. Getty Images.

Nowadays, she primarily drives around her Balmoral, Sandringham and Windsor estates rather than on the streets of London, where she is definitely chauffeured, as is the protocol.

Her passion for driving is well-documented in photos of her behind the wheel.

In 1998, Queen Elizabeth had a great “Gotcha” moment. Prince Abdullah — then the crown prince and de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia — was visiting Balmoral, the Queen’s estate in Scotland.

After lunch, the Queen had asked her royal guest whether he would like a tour of the estate. Abdullah agreed. The royal Land Rovers were pulled up in front of the castle. The Crown Prince climbed into the front seat of the front Land Rover. His interpreter sat in the seat behind.

To Abdullah’s surprise, the Queen climbed into the driving seat, turned the ignition and drove off. Women, at the time, were not allowed to drive in Saudi Arabia and Abdullah was not used to being driven by a woman, let alone a queen. Evidently, the Queen drove like the wind, navigating the narrow Scottish estate roads, talking all the while and accelerating. Abdullah was terrified. He begged the Queen to slow down and concentrate on the road ahead.

Prince Philip and his wife the Queen.

The Queen and Prince Philip, an enduring royal romance. Getty Images.

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip (left of car) getting in to their 3 litre Aston Martin Lagonda DHC convertible car after a polo match at Cowdray Park in West Sussex, England on June 3rd 1956. Photo by Paul Popper via Getty Images.

The Lagonda Prince Philip owned in the late 1950s, which featured an extra mirror reputedly added to help the Queen to adjust her hat, had an exhaustive list of repairs. Credit: PA: Press Association.

The Queen and Prince Philip inspecting the army at Sennelager, West Germany, in 1977. Artist unknown.

Prince Philip funeral custom made Land Rover, designed by Duke of Edinburgh, revealed ahead of funeral.

Prince Philip designed his own funeral car.

Prince Philip had four children: Princes Charles, Andrew, Edward and Princess Anne.

June 2019. On Thursday, Prince Charles visited the set of the new Bond film at the legendary Pinewood Studios, just outside London, to shake hands with saga star Daniel Craig, actors Naomi Harris and Ralph Fiennes and director Cary Fukunaga and to watch from near the new fleet of cars and gadgets used for filming.

Charles loves vintage cars.

Prince Charles steps from his 1969 Aston Martin DB6 MKII Volante in the grounds of the Highgrove Estate in Gloucestershire. Photography by Sir Don McCullin.

Prince Charles' 1969 Aston Martin Volante DB6 MKII, given to him by the Queen on his 21st birthday, is one of the rarest Aston Martins ever made, with only 12 thought to have been produced.

Prince Charles drives away in his wine powered Aston Martin Cartier International Polo tournament held at the Guards Polo Club.

Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall being driven in Rolls Royce.

Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise Mountbatten-Windsor, 69, Her Majesty's second child, is one of the most beloved British royalty.

The Telegraph, for example, has recently called her "the best of us all: tenacious, practical, hardworking, diligent and reserved".

The Princess at a riding competition in Russia in 1973. Getty Images.

Anna has always had a great passion for horses. She owns several of them and she was a horse-riding champion, the first royal to take part in the Olympics (in Montreal, 1976). Anna has style in spades. Her off duty style is strongly influenced by her love for horses and the photos that portray her in her youth with Jodhpur pants, livery and shiny boots give a good idea of her innate elegance.

Princess Anne at the Bath and West Agricultural Show with members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Bath, UK, 29th May 1969. Photo by Jeremy Fletcher. Getty Images.

In her youth she loved miniskirts and often wore dresses that bared the legs. Although they were not Mary Quant-style microskirts, however, they aroused the disapproval of the Queen Mother who considered the sight of bare knees unsightly.

Ann lives with her second husband, Vice Admiral Sir Timothy James Hamilton Laurence (of modest origins), in the quiet of Gatcombe Park and they spend their holidays sailing the Scottish waters on their sailing yacht named Ballochbuie. Laurence, in fact, indulges Ann's other passion: lighthouses. She has loved them ever since she accompanied her mother as a child to see the one in Tiumpan Head, on the Isle of Lewis. Today she is a patron to the Northern Lighthouse Board and she has already visited 80 of the 205 lighthouses dotted around Scotland and the Isle of Man.

Videos