I've been reading this, and find it a little overblown. I get it that the whole royalist thing is in itself controversial, but it's not controversial just because one of them has died. Like all people, the deceased and their family deserve a little respect if only because of their grief.
As for his character, yes - if the reports are correct - he was irascible, intolerant of fools, witty, extremely competent at his profession as a naval officer, and very much a product of his time in his political incorrectness! My father was a little younger (and died four years ago), but had a similar service upbringing and a career to very senior level (RAF Board level) in the RAF. Reading those quotes from PP, I can almost hear my father talking - and I cringe now, as I did often in his company. He was 'racist' in the strictest definition of the word in that he adopted stereotypical memes about people and where they came from, but he would never have dreamed of prejudging any individual - and, like PP, there were many, many people of all ethnicities who would sing his praises. It took me some time to come to terms with the discordance between those two parts of his character. Like Philip, he was a decent man born in times when attitudes were different, and like many old people, he found it difficult to adapt to the expectations of those younger than himself with different sensitivities.
They've gone. Let it lie.
