Prince Philip's 'passion' for duchess

The Duke of Edinburgh enjoyed a 'highly-charged' relationship with a beautiful aristocrat 25 years his junior, according to a highly authoritative biography.

The Duchess of Abercorn admitted to royal author Gyles Brandreth, a friend of Philip, that she had a 'passionate friendship' with him for more than 20 years, describing him as someone who 'needs a playmate'.

The book gives credence to rumours that the 83-year- old prince has been unfaithful to the Queen by quoting another aristocrat as saying he 'has had fullblown affairs, and more than one'.

Brandreth, a broadcaster, author and former Tory MP, was given unprecedented access to the royal household for his book, Philip & Elizabeth: Portrait of a Marriage.

His closeness to Philip suggests that the duke gave his tacit approval for the issue of his friendship with the duchess, as well as the nature of his relationship with other women such as his carriage driving partner Penny Romsey, to be explored in public.

It is thought that key figures in the book, including Sacha, Duchess of Abercorn, spoke candidly to Brandreth after they were given the go-ahead by Prince Philip, whose female friends have not in the past given interviews.

The duchess told Brandreth: 'Our friendship was very close', but added: 'I did not go to bed with him.

'It's complicated and at the same time it's quite simple. He needs a playmate and someone to share his intellectual pursuits.'

Asked if she thought Philip had slept with any of his other ' playmates', the 58-year- old duchess said: 'I doubt it very much. No, I'm sure not.

'But he's a human being. Who knows? I don't. Unless you are in the room with a lighted candle, who knows?'

Sacha Abercorn was first linked with Philip in 1987 when a newspaper published a picture of him, wearing only a towel, with his arm around her in a swimsuit.

According to Brandreth, they have also been seen holding hands at her holiday home in the Bahamas - something she did not deny.

Whilst Brandreth says in the book that he is satisfied with the

duchess's account, he nevertheless decides to quote royal biographer Viscountess Bangor, who uses the professional name Sarah Bradford, as saying: 'The Duke of Edinburgh has had affairs - yes, full-blown affairs and more than one.

'He has affairs and the Queen accepts it. I think she thinks that's how men are. Philip and Sacha Abercorn certainly had an affair. Without a doubt.'

In the book, published later this month, the Duchess of Abercorn recounts how her friendship with Philip began in the late 1960s with a conversation about the Swiss psychologist Carl Jung, in whom they had a shared interest.

'Prince Philip is always questing, exploring, searching for meaning, testing ideas. He asks the difficult questions and that's what drew me to him.

'Yes, he is practical, unsentimental and logical, but he is also emotional and intuitive. He is deeply sensitive. Deeply sensitive. His senses are so supercharged.'

Brandreth has interviewed Philip several times in the past, and has been used as a conduit for the prince to air his frustrations over such issues as his 'caricaturing' in the media and his uneasy relationship with the Duchess of York.

He is quoted by Brandreth as giving an outright denial of infidelity, saying: 'How could I? I've had a detective in my company, night and day, since 1947.' Penny Romsey, the glamorous 53-year- old blonde whose friendship with Philip has attracted perhaps the most gossip, is described by Brandreth as 'his playmate, not his mistress'.

Penny's mother-in-law Countess Mountbatten says in the book: 'Philip is a man who enjoys the company of attractive, intelligent younger women. He has special friends, like Penny. But I am absolutely certain he has never been unfaithful to the Queen.'

Brandreth debunks the commonly-held belief that the Queen and Prince Philip sleep in separate beds. He says the misconception began in 1982, when palace intruder Michael Fagan disturbed the Queen, who was alone in bed.

'The Queen and Prince Philip do share the same bed. It just happened that on the morning of Fagan's intrusion, Philip had a crack-of-dawn start for an outoftown official engagement and so spent the night in his own quarters.'