Buckingham Palace Issued Rare Denial Over 1957 Newspaper Report Alleging Rift Between Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip
In 1957, Buckingham Palace issued a rare official denial regarding a newspaper story published by the Baltimore Sun titled 'Report Queen, Duke in Rift Over Party Girl.' The article alleged that Prince Philip was romantically involved with an unnamed woman he regularly met in a society photographer's West End apartment. According to Gyles Brandreth's book 'Elizabeth: An Intimate Portrait,' Prince Philip's longtime friend and former private secretary, Mike Parker, stated that the Duke was 'incandescent' with rage and deeply hurt by the false accusations. Queen Elizabeth was reportedly equally dismayed, leading to the unusual step of breaking the royal family's traditional 'never complain, never explain' policy to issue a complete denial, stating, 'It is quite untrue that there is any rift between the Queen and the Duke.' 
