Charlie Fenton’s Reviews > Before the Crown > Status Update

‘A special dinner to mark the betrothal has been hastily arranged at Buckingham Palace for that night. It is going to be a glittering affair and afterwards he and Elizabeth will make an appearance on the balcony to wave at the anticipated crowds. It will just be the start, Philip knows. His life will never be the same again.
But there is no going back now.’

‘He has lost a title but gained a name: Mountbatten. Philip is ambivalent about that. On the one hand, he needs to be practical and it is just a name. On the other, it is not his father’s name. It is his uncle’s. Philip doesn’t begrudge Uncle Dickie that small victory but the knowledge that once again his father has been written out of his history niggles like a small stone in his shoe.’

‘At social occasions, the onus is on her to put people at their ease, but there is never anyone to put her at her ease. They treat her like a princess.
Philip treats her as Elizabeth.
It is not just that he is handsome. It is more that his vitality seems to suck the oxygen greedily from the room, leaving her short of breath. The very air seems to crisp when he walks through it.‘

‘The uniform is horrid but at least it means Margaret isn’t jealous. She can get very sulky if she thinks I’m doing something she wants to do, but she says she has no desire to slide underneath a truck or get her hands filthy changing a tyre. I don’t know why I enjoy it so much. I think it’s because it’s about doing something and not just talking about it.’