Prince Philip attends friend's funeral

Britain's Prince Philip attended the funeral of his coachman this week.

The Duke of attended showed his admiration for 73-yearold Micky Flynn when he attended the service on Tuesday (25.01.11) despite announcing in November that he will reduce many of his public engagements this year, when he turns 90.

A friend says: "Micky was a harness maker, coach painter, whip maker and had learned the internal anatomy of the horse by the age of 16."

During his time working for the prince, Micky was made a member of the Coaching Club and in 2009 was awarded the Member of the Royal Victorian Order (MVO) at Buckingham Palace.

Meanwhile it has been revealed Prince Philip's passion for art came to the fore after a fire at Windsor Castle in 1992, when a blaze devastated much of the castle's state apartments, burning the private chapel to the ground.

He designed a stained glass window for the restoration showing a fireman fighting the flames.

Lady Jane Roberts, the Royal Librarian and curator of a new exhibition honouring Philip said: "That was a traumatic event and there were several hours when it looked as if the whole castle would go,' He was there watching them, he witnessed what the firemen did to save the castle, and he wanted to pay tribute to them."