Right royal resolve hid Prince Philip's health fears
So the supreme effort of Tuesday could indeed have been hiding something more serious and significant writes Shirley Tart.
On Monday the Duke of Edinburgh pulled out of a planned engagement so his wife went for both of them.
Queen Elizabeth 11's consort, her liege man of life and limb, had just one thing in mind – to be at the next day's Service of Thanksgiving.
He made it. And we in Westminster Abbey breathed a sigh of relief as the frail but determined figure took his place.
Now, two days later, the news has to be seen as a real worry. Even though, true to sterling character, the Duke was at a Buckingham Palace garden party yesterday afternoon. Meanwhile, as she does, the Queen was continuing with her planned appointments today – including a visit to the new BBC studios. But this can't be anything but an extremely anxious time for her.
Touchingly, just before the garden party, she also invested her husband with New Zealand's highest honour, making him an additional member of the Order of New Zealand to mark the Diamond Jubilee.
So now, what happens next? Everyone will be hoping for the best but will also be very concerned at this latest turn in Prince Philip's health.
That he has remained so active and involved even to this great age is not unique in the modern Royal Family. His mother-in-law, the nation's much loved Queen Mother, lived until she was 101 and remained active and part of royal and national life well beyond her century. There is a true grit about them which defies what might seem to be the inevitable.
He once tried to dull the pain in an arthritic wrist with Butazolodin, a drug usually given to lame horses and recommended by his head groom. But later stopped taking it because of the side effects.
The Prince threw away his last cigarette packet just before his wedding in 1947. That he stopped virtually overnight, was a tribute to his sailor's determination and grit.
He has remained active, drinks only moderately and is as keen as his eldest son on healthy eating. He was 82 when he gave up attending the Trooping the Colour ceremony on horseback and travelled in a carriage with the Queen.
The ceremonies had become so painful he had to lie on the floor afterwards to recover.
He has dozens of patronages, his Duke of Edinburgh's Award Scheme has transformed young lives, he is adored by his children and grandchildren and above all, he loves and protects his wife who freely says she could not have done her job without him.
A biographer says the Prince's life is 'Handshakes, speeches, lunches, dinners, banquets, buffets, committee meetings, informal talks here, there and everywhere."
Even at nearly 92, we hope that the Duke of Edinburgh's steely resolve sees him once more on the way to recovery.
