From time to time, Prince Philip has been known to have a rather short fuse. Some of his less than noble remarks have been collected in ”Prince Philip: His Secret Life” (St. Martin`s), by John Parker. To singer Tom Jones: ”What do you gargle with-pebbles?” To a man politely inquiring how his flight was: ”Have you ever flown in a plane? Yes? Well, it was just like that.” To a British student studying in China: ”If you stay much longer, you`ll get slitty eyes.” To a Chilean diplomat who said he wore a business suit to a formal function because he was told it would be OK: ”I suppose if they`d said, `Wear a bathing suit,` you would have done that too.” To a woman who asked him what the British team`s chances were at an equestrian event:
”Look at the scoreboard and work it out for yourself.” Touchy, touchy.
George Harrison was always referred to as ”the quiet one.” But he actually has quite a bit to say in ”Dark Horse” (Plume), a biography by Geoffrey Giuliano. On the early Beatle days: ”We were a bunch of loonies, taking drugs and trying to be honest.” On himself and Ringo: ”Economy-class Beatles.” On karma: ”We were made John, Paul, George and Ringo because of what we did last time; it was all there for us, on a plate.” On the breakup of the Beatles: ”It satisfied me more than anything else in my career. Being a Beatle was a nightmare, a horror story. I don`t even like to think about it. On why he named his record label Dark Horse. ”That`s me, I guess. The very last one you would have ever expected to come out a winner.” It was John Lennon who said: ”George himself is no mystery. But the mystery inside of George is immense. It`s watching him uncover it all little by little that`s so damn interesting.”
