Friday 16 April 2021

Prince Philip and the Loch Ness Monster



As the day of the funeral of HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh approaches, it would not be out of place to mention in the various and numerous articles and documentaries, that he had an interest in the mysteries of life.

In listening to the various tributes to the Duke of Edinburgh, I learnt he had amassed a total of over ten thousand books in his library at Buckingham Palace. These would have covered a vast array of subjects to satiate his inquiring mind. Naval, historical, equine, theological and others filled the shelves and apparently also his keen interest in UFOs after one allegedly landed on the estate of his uncle, Lord Mountbatten (see link).

That interest looked to have persisted as we are told that only in 2019, he was reading a book on the Rendlesham Forest UFO incident in Suffolk. Apparently he amassed a sizable number of books on that subject. But what about the other mystery swimming in the depths of Loch Ness? How many books did he possess on that subject? I suspect more than a handful.

Back in the 1960s and 1970s, it would seem he was well connected enough on the subject through his association with Sir Peter Scott (both below). Their shared love of ornithology and conservation work led to a lasting friendship. Scott's work with the Loch Ness Monster is well known. In fact. in the same year that he was inviting Prince Philip to be the first President of the World Wildlife Fund, he was also setting up another organisation, the Loch Ness Phenomena Investigation Bureau.



It was unlikely that he would invite the Prince to patronise such an organisation in the same manner, especially after the embarrassing episode the year before of Scott using his Royal connections to persuade the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh to be amongst the first viewers of Tim Dinsdale's film and to discuss the creature being dubbed "Elizabethia Nessiae" in her honour (further details here).

However, it is fairly certain that Sir Peter Scott kept the Duke abreast of developments at the loch, especially when they tended to sit together at WWF board meetings. One suspects, though, that prudence kept him from recording any such private conversations. A better source is from David Clarke's book, "Britain's X-traordinary Files". In it he mentions how another of the Loch Ness Phenomena Investigation Bureau's founders, David James, got involved.

We learn that James had a conversation with Prince Philip regarding his plans for the Bureau at the loch and how to fund it after their second expedition there. I'll wager Peter Scott brought the two together. The Prince's reply was that he contact Solly Zuckerman, Chief Scientific Advisor to the Ministry of Defense. The lending of sonar equipment and expertise was discussed, but the MoD did not think it prudent to be seen using military resources in the pursuit of a monster. David also point out on his blog another instance where the Duke was involved:

Indeed when sightings began again after the war, the Duke of Edinburgh suggested calling in the Royal Navy to solve the mystery.

It seems this suggestion did not get very far either. The Duke of Edinburgh evidently had a love of mysteries, but we are left with the unanswered question which he is no longer here to answer - what did he think the Monster was? I suspect that answer would have depended what year you asked him. 

Perhaps his last answer would have been "a load of bloody nonsense" which seemed a phrase attributed to him. But then again, I would like to think he visited this blog and other like minded ones at least once or twice ....

Rest In Peace, Prince Philip. A reading taken from his funeral, Ecclesiasticus 43:23-25

By His wisdom he calmed the great oceans
and placed the islands there.
Sailors tell about the dangers of the sea,
and we listen to their tales in amazement.
In the sea are strange and marvellous creatures:
huge monsters and all kinds of living things.



The author can be contacted at lochnesskelpie@gmail.com


17 comments:

  1. Very interesting account of how Lord Mountbatten's bricklayer, Fred Briggs, saw that ufo land on his estate in 1955. His drawing of that encounter is also intriguing. In October of 1997, I was with 3 other women visiting the Pennsylvania border of NJ, flat farm country. It was 9:10 pm, dark and clear. We all saw a 35 - 40 feet in diameter round ufo hovering above us, with flashing lights underneath, rotating silently. This craft took off, jumping across the sky and then returned to hover closely above us, then sped off at an incredible speed. No smoke, no noise, nothing. Obvious to us that this was not a craft from this planet, it made unbelievable maneuvers. We all made a run for the house, no one was interested in seeing it land! The next day we went into town and found out that this vehicle had been seen all summer in the area. No one will ever convince me that we are alone in this universe, or that we know everything there is to know, there are still mysteries we have yet to discover......

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    1. Don't worry mate, you only saw the UFO equivalent of a floating log, birds swimming past or waves...

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    2. Oh c'mon Roland, don't be such a skeptic.

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    3. You saw a conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn through a milky film of swamp gas.

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    4. You are absolutely correct in your closing statement
      Those that disagree, while never doing any investigation of any kind, can be disregarded.

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  2. Rest In Peace and good night sweet Prince.

    If he ever did visit this blog, I wonder if he ever felt the urge to comment, but his sense of royal decorum prevented him. I guess we'll never know.

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    1. Who do you think Roy is?

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    2. LOL No wonder Roy hasn't commented here in a while.

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    3. Oh, BTW his funeral is being shown live over here in the states as I post. Big event.

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    4. Could be Prince Charles, he was interested in such things like his father!

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  3. Hahaha. That's ridiculous to think he visited this blog. Haha.

    #bzzt# Meghan they're onto us. Harry out. End transmission. #bzzt#

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    1. Well, I certainly won't be betting the house on it, but fun to speculate.

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    2. It's possible! Maybe we should ask the Queen. "No, he was on the naughty websites, I should know, I caught him!" Just having fun, no disrespect Intended. No hate mail please!

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  4. I wonder if Prince Phillip had Ted Holidays book in his collection ? Maybe he was Roy after all lol

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  5. Wasn't Roy sick a little while ago?

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    1. I think i recall him saying he had covid a few weeks back David.

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