The Duke of Edinburgh is a fan of tattoos and swearing, something not often associated with The Royal Family.
Last year whilst visiting the 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards at Lille Barracks in Aldershot, His Royal Highness appeared intrigued by the body art on display.
The Prince made one of the soldier’s roll his sleeve up so he could get a closer look at the tattoo, and seemed impressed.
One source said: “He was asking them where they had got them done and what the story was behind them. A corporal was telling him that his was in tribute to a family member who had passed away.”
The Duke isn’t the only royal to like tattoos. King Edward VII had a Jerusalem Cross tattooed on his arm during a visit to the Holy Land in 1862 alongside many other works of art.
King George V also had tattoos done on his arms during a visit to Japan in 1882.
Prince Philip is also known to be no stranger to the odd swear word.
In 2014, he was party to a hilarious incident in which a soldier swore at the royal. Doubled-up in pain, the soldier was asked by The Duke “Are you all right?”
To which the soldier replied: “No, I’m fucked!”
The Duke found the moment extremely amusing and continued to laugh about it for some time afterwards.
The forthright Prince Philip is known to not mince his words. In 2015, he was heard telling a photographer to “take the fucking picture” at an event to commemorate the Battle of Britain, attended by Second World War veterans. He has previously been known to swear when impatient, for example at a dinner party in 2004 “Bugger the table plan, give me my dinner!”
The Prince also renamed a piezometer water gauge demonstrated by Australian farmer Steve Filelti a “pissometer” in 2000.
In fact, The Duke has such a reputation for making amusing remarks that it has become something of an expectation.
In 1998, His Royal Highness told a group of primary school children in their red uniforms “It makes you all look like Dracula’s daughters!” and when watching a robot display at the Science Museum in London he asked: “They’re not mating are they?”
Prince Philip can be humorous. He can also be overbearing. He was, of course, a Naval officer where salty language is iconic. It is in most services. I’ve always thought cursing most effective when unexpected and from one who’s not given to a frequent amount. It is the surprise that gives a curse its sting.
Have no use for tats at all. Find them a curse of this generation. Cattle is branded and experimental animals. Tattooing was also a facility of the “Holocaust” and slavery.
And for heaven’s sake, Prince, trim those damn eyebrows. What is it with old men and eyebrows?