Philip’s Alleged Other Woman Exposed as Source Reveals the Queen Was ‘Furious’ at His Flings Before His Death
Rumors of affairs plague all royals, even those no longer with us. Though, to be fair, there have been rumors that Prince Philip cheated on Queen Elizabeth before his death for years. It’s not only Kate Middleton and Prince William or Prince Harry and Meghan Markle that people speculate about.
RadarOnline has identified the woman Philip had an affair with as Penelope Knatchbull, Countess Mountbatten of Burma.
Related: Here’s what each royal inherited from Queen Elizabeth
“They were very close,” a royal insider said about the woman, who is known as Penny. “She spent more time with him than his wife.” Penelope Knatchbull is 32 years younger than Philip and the wife of his first cousin, once removed. Their relationship was so close that she was given the nickname “And Also” by staffers because whenever the Duke of Edinburgh had to invite anyone to any event, he’d always end with “and also Penny.”
The book Queen Elizabeth II by Hugo Vickers goes into the details of how Philip stepped away from his royal duties in August 2017 and began living at Wood Farm at the Sandringham estate. Elizabeth continued living at Windsor Castle.
“The queen let the duke do exactly as he pleased,” Vickers wrote. “He enjoyed his carriage-driving, read voraciously and painted a little. From time to time, the queen went up by train to Norfolk to stay the weekend. Once again, she gave him a loose rein. In a sense, they had separated.”
Rumors of cheating swirled around the royal couple since shortly after their wedding in 1947. Queen Elizabeth largely dismissed them, but privately, she wasn’t so calm. “But that doesn’t mean she wasn’t hurt – or furious – over his flings,” an insider told the outlet. “But she’d never show it. She refused to let herself, and the monarchy, be humiliated.”
However, the queen reportedly kept a file with the names of all the women Philip had been involved with, a list that included at least a dozen women, including the mother of Sarah Ferguson, Andrew’s ex-wife. And Elizabeth was reportedly very angry when royal biographer Ingrid Seward released the book Prince Philip Revealed in 2020, a book that claimed he fathered two love children with his longtime friend, French actress Helene Cordet.
“Prince Philip usually made a beeline for the prettiest girl on the dance floor,” wrote Sarah Ferguson’s father, Ron Ferguson, in his memoir, The Galloping Major: My Life and Singular Times, released in 2003. “He certainly found Susie’s company much more enticing than mine,” he said about Susan Barrantes, Ferguson’s mother.
Some other royal biographers believe Elizabeth also cheated, perhaps in response to Philip’s flings. In fact, royal expert Andrew Lownie has said he believes Andrew might not be Philip’s son, but the son of Elizabeth’s longtime horse racing manager, Lord Porchester.
Whatever happened between the two, by the end of his life, Prince Philip was back by Elizabeth’s side. However, when he died, he was alone. Vickers even wrote: “She took the line, I was told, that she was ‘absolutely furious that, as so often in life, he left without saying goodbye.'”
