How This Royal Who Prince Philip Calls ‘The Boss’ Gave Him A Black Eye

Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, is known to be gruff and very particular. The man holds quite a bit of respect and authority. After all, he is married to Her Majesty the Queen. Despite the rough exterior, there is one person who Prince Philip calls “The Boss,” and the true identity of “The Boss” is quite astounding.

Queen Elizabeth II, of course, has the ultimate power over the land, and in public the Duke of Edinburgh accedes to Her Majesty’s wishes. “He defers quite rightly because she is the Queen, she is the ultimate, she is the boss, and he is just her husband,” Tim Heald said in the documentary “The Duke: Portrait Of Prince Philip” released in 2008. However, it was also revealed in the documentary that the roles are quite reversed behind closed doors.

Surprisingly, it's not the Queen who holds Prince Philip’s moniker of “The Boss.” Rather, the so-called The Boss is no other than their third child, Prince Andrew. Biographer Andrew Morton discusses this further in his book “Andrew: The Playboy Prince,” which was released in 1983.

The second son of the Queen entered the lives of the royal family members on Feb. 19, 1960. “On a chilly February afternoon the young man Prince Philip called ‘The Boss’ came bouncing into the world,” Morton wrote. “His arrival heralded the start of the Queen’s second family — a source of great joy and pleasure to her,” added the biographer.

Morton even wrote about how Prince Andrew’s “boisterous spirit” would lead to “unfortunate” incidents, such as his mock bedtime boxing match with his father, Prince Philip. A playful smack from the little boy got through his father’s defenses, leaving his old man with a bruise on the eye.

“During the horseplay, one of his right hooks got through and left Prince Philip with a real shiner that even the application of raw steak could not disguise,” the author described. “He was due at a film premiere that night and as he stepped out of the car, he pointed to his black eye and said ruefully: ‘That was The Boss,’” wrote the author.