Queen Elizabeth II’s husband Prince Philip is known for his irreverent sense of humour, as well as supporting his wife over the years.
Known for his gaffes and wicked jokes over the centuries, many might assume that the royal had quite the stag do.
According to reports the 91-year-old actually had two stag dos – an official one for the press, and a much more secret affair.
Philip’s official stag do was a very fancy get together, and took place at the Dorchester Hotel, Central London.
In a smart move, the Prince invited the press to this event, no doubt to throw them off the scent of the real party.
The true stag do took place a couple of nights before.
Now it has been revealed that Prince Philip had his bachelor party at the Belfry Club on November 14, 1947.
The wedding took place six days later on November 20 – giving Philip time to recover if he happened to incur a hangover, like many of today’s stags do.
Twenty-five men came to the 26-year-old’s stag do, and ate foie gras, turtle soup, mixed grill and crepes suzette. Many of them were members of the Thursday Club, which Philip belonged to.
Not much is known about the exclusive private members club, however Miles Kington – a former member – told the Independent in 1996: “I think I am probably one of the last surviving members of the old Thursday Club, the gang of cronies that the Duke of Edinburgh used to gather round him in the 1950s to have a bit of fun away from his serious life at Buckingham Palace.”
He added: “The club was strictly all-male, but that does not mean there were not women at these gatherings.”
So it sounds as though the stag do, a black tie affair, could have been quite a night.
A note on Prince Philip’s stag do menu, which was created and decorated by artist Feliks Topolski contained a quote by Dr Samuel Johnson.
It said: “Marriage is the best state for a man in general; and every man is a worse man in proportion as he is unfit for the married state…”
A body language expert described why the body language of the Queen and Prince Philip was ’shocking’ during their wedding day.
Royal protocol was very much the order of the day in 1947, and all eyes were expected to be on the Queen and her parents, Judi claimed.