NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Lifestyle

Daniela Elser: Prince Philip's death puts the royal family in danger zone

By Daniela Elser
news.com.au·
10 Apr, 2021 07:41 AM7 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Prince Philip has passed away at the age of 99, after battling health problems for the last few years.

OPINION

We don't know what time HRH the Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, Earl of Merioneth and Baron Greenwich died or which of the 1000-plus rooms at Windsor Castle he was in when he breathed his last.

However, as the world comes to terms with his death one thing we know with crystal-clear certainty: the house of Windsor is about to enter one of the most dangerous periods in its 104-year history (before that it was the house of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha).

The Duke was 99 years old and had been in poor health for some time, and although his death was hardly a bolt out of the blue, the psychic repercussions of his death cannot be underestimated.

The Queen might be still relatively spry at 94 years old (she turns 95 this month) but the loss of her helpmate and constant supporter marks the beginning of the end of an era.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

In fact, the level of the outpouring of public grief represents, to some degree, a tacit understanding of the next inevitable tragedy to strike the royal family: her Majesty's death.

Whether we like it or not (I vote "not") the UK and the Commonwealth are about to have to confront the reality of the mortality of the sovereign who has ruled for 69 years.

However, as The Firm, a term Philip himself coined, prepares to lay him to rest, both the family and the institution are facing their greatest test since the death of Diana, Princess of Wales in 1997.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

While in the public domain Philip might have come to be known as a gaffe-prone caricature of princedom, a sort of irreverent, jocular monarchical sidekick to the taciturn Queen, in private he was the backbone of the family and the household's enforcer.

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh arrive for day 1 of Royal Ascot at Ascot Racecourse in 2015. Photo / Getty Images
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh arrive for day 1 of Royal Ascot at Ascot Racecourse in 2015. Photo / Getty Images

He might have had to walk two steps behind his wife, literally and figuratively, when they left the palace gates but in the privacy of their many homes, it was he who laid down the law and kept their recalcitrant, renegade bunch of children and grandchildren in line.

However, as age wearied him, that was a role he gradually stepped back from, and the events of recent years have revealed just how yawning of a leadership chasm he has left behind; now after his death that lack of one firm guiding hand running the show could prove fatal to the crown.

Just who will preside over the unruly lot of them all now?

Discover more

Royals

Dynasty: 1000 years of royal history and the rebranding of Prince Philip

10 Apr 05:49 AM
Royals

How Prince Philip spent his final days

10 Apr 02:57 AM
Royals

Fierce backlash: Harry, Meghan criticised for 'ice cold' Prince Philip tribute

10 Apr 01:31 AM
Royals

Sandringham Xmas: Philip arranged holiday for Kiwi away from home

09 Apr 10:25 PM

Way back in the days of yore that was 2019, as the rumblings of Harry and Meghan, Duke and Duchess of Sussex's discontent grew louder, the royal response was deeply flawed.

While plans were being drawn up that would have moved the duo to a Commonwealth nation, potentially South Africa, to become sort of roving youth ambassadors, what is marked in hindsight is the seeming lack of urgency on courtiers' parts.

Although the palace had accepted that the then-status quo was not working for the Sussexes, nor did they fully appreciate just how at the end their tether the duo were.

Oprah Winfrey interviews Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. Photo / Getty Images
Oprah Winfrey interviews Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. Photo / Getty Images

As last year's pro-Sussex biography Finding Freedom set out, Harry, during the couple's Canadian sabbatical in late 2019, tried in vain to nail down a time to meet his grandmother upon their return to the UK so they could iron out the details. Ultimately they would take things into their own hands, thus setting off a chain reaction of events that has seriously damaged the palace and which are still keenly being felt today.

Would Philip, himself a former outsider who had faced a painful immersion into the royal milieu, have more closely sympathised with Harry and Meghan? Would he of all people have had a far keener understanding of their frustrations and worked to find a solution with much more alacrity? Would he have instinctively understood not only the root problem underlying their agitation but also that the palace moving at its signature glacial pace was incredibly risky?

Even if the so-called Iron Duke had not managed to head off the calamity that was Megxit, had this cleaving of the royal house happened a decade earlier, it is impossible to imagine that he would have stood mutely by while his grandson and granddaughter-in-law took to US TV screens to promptly unleash, both barrels blazing, on the royal family, the situation he had dedicated his life to preserving.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip during their visit to New Zealand, 1977. Photo / Getty Images
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip during their visit to New Zealand, 1977. Photo / Getty Images

The recent PR conflagration that was the Sussexes' Oprah interview, and even before that their somewhat churlish reaction to being stripped of their remaining official royal roles in February, reflect just how badly the house of Windsor has fractured in recent years — fractured, that is, along fraternal fault lines.

And yet faced with this continually expanding crisis which has had, and will continue to have, significant damaging consequences for the monarchy, what has become apparent is there is serious yawning, vacuum at the top of the royal household.

Without Philip's authoritarian hand to try and keep a lid on things or even manage the fallout, the situation has continued to spiral out of control, placing even further stress and nearly unthinkable strain on the fabric and unity of the royal house.

Princess Elizabeth, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh with King George VI and Queen Elizabeth (right) and members of the immediate and extended Royal Family at Buckingham Palace after their wedding in 1947. Photo / Getty Images
Princess Elizabeth, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh with King George VI and Queen Elizabeth (right) and members of the immediate and extended Royal Family at Buckingham Palace after their wedding in 1947. Photo / Getty Images

And that, in turn, has, and will continue to, wreak havoc on the monarchy.

Family bickering and clashes have been allowed to foment such that we have seen a Krakatoa of anger and acrimony explode into public view, threatening to reduce the institution to nothing more than a grand and endlessly entertaining soap opera, dignity be damned.

The past few years have seen the Windsors' genuine do-goodery begin to be increasingly overshadowed by the image of them as a dysfunctional cabbal of self-centred toffs; the royal family left to be increasingly viewed as simply a clutch of egos vying for glowing press coverage and Sovereign Grant funding.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Rather than reinforcing the traditional royal lodestars of duty and service instead we have had Prince Andrew's ignominious fall from grace and the drama of Megxit, both of which pose the risk of reducing the royal house to something of an embarrassment, an archaic bastion of privilege, cruelty and racism, an expensive anachronism that may very well no longer enjoy the British public's benign acquiescence.

The idea of a hereditary monarchy was always going to be an increasingly tough sell in the 21st century; that project will be considerably harder if all Buckingham Palace comes to stand for is melodrama and squabbling.

So, will, and indeed can, Charles step into this void?
Although he was reportedly instrumental in forcing his brother to step back from public life after Andrew's debacle of a 2019 BBC interview, his handling of the Harry and Meghan situation clearly leaves a lot to be desired.

Or, should Prince William step up and become the de facto head slash millennial patriarch? After all, a poll done this week found nearly one in two Brits want him to succeed the Queen when she dies and for the crown to skip Charles entirely. However seems likely to go down about as well with Charles as his wife Camilla Duchess of Cornwall turning his watercolour room into a Peta meeting venue. The Prince of Wales, after all, has been waiting more than 70 years to get the top job.

The danger now is that all the various royal houses will hare off in 101 directions rather than pulling in a concerted, focused direction and that plumping up individual HRHs will supplant a steadfast focus on the good of the crown.

To borrow from the vernacular of Philip's beloved navy, the biggest question Buckingham Palace will have to answer in the coming weeks and months is, whose hand is decisively on the tiller?

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Fail to adequately answer that and a vast monarchical shipwreck looms.

Daniela Elser is a royal expert and writer with more than 15 years experience working with a number of Australia's leading media titles.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Lifestyle

Premium
Lifestyle

‘My husband’s diabetes destroyed our sex life – here’s how we saved our marriage’

Lifestyle

'Speechless': Woman's lost engagement ring miraculously found with stranger's help

Lifestyle

Boss’ insane text to gym members about ‘young women’ rule


Sponsored

Sponsored: Why heat pumps make winter cheaper

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Lifestyle

Premium
Premium
‘My husband’s diabetes destroyed our sex life – here’s how we saved our marriage’
Lifestyle

‘My husband’s diabetes destroyed our sex life – here’s how we saved our marriage’

Telegraph: Diabetes can often affect the sex lives of many men.

14 Jul 06:00 PM
'Speechless': Woman's lost engagement ring miraculously found with stranger's help
Lifestyle

'Speechless': Woman's lost engagement ring miraculously found with stranger's help

14 Jul 07:00 AM
Boss’ insane text to gym members about ‘young women’ rule
Lifestyle

Boss’ insane text to gym members about ‘young women’ rule

14 Jul 02:04 AM


Sponsored: Why heat pumps make winter cheaper
Sponsored

Sponsored: Why heat pumps make winter cheaper

01 Jul 04:58 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP