BBC iPLAYER IS FANTASTIC. I rarely get to watch telly “when it’s on” and I’m really glad not to have missed The Duke at 90 – though I’ve gathered that he wouldn’t have minded missing it! Hard work for Fiona Bruce. Hard work for the Duke, apparently. Not quite such hard work, from what I’ve read, as the time Alan Titchmarsh had of it! But I gladly own that I’ve been a long-time admirer of the Duke of Edinburgh, just as I stand in awe and gratitude as I contemplate the lifetime’s dedication and service given to this nation – and far, far beyond its shores – by Her Majesty the Queen.

And having watched The Duke at 90 tonight there’s one thing especially that strikes me about him, something seen too in the life and example of HM the Queen. Prince Philip’s whole approach to life is “You just get on with it.” Reflecting on an entire lifetime spent as the “strength and stay” of Her Majesty, alongside fatherhood, grandfatherhood, a professional career in the Royal Navy, and the patronage of more good works than anyone could accurately count, one cannot help but notice that this man is avowedly intent upon not being a “celebrity”. Self-effacing, even if rather fiercely self-effacing, the Duke “just gets on with it.” Rather like the Lord of the Church did. Rather like the followers of the Lord of the Church should.