Prince Philip: a legacy of curiosity

In this, he was so far ahead of the curve, that people might find it hard to understand how challenging his ideas seemed at the time.

He shared a similar interest in farming and had strong views on organic farming.

Sometimes, he changed tack on these and other issues as science brought to light new information. It seems he set out to be well-read on the things that mattered most to him, or that he thought needed to be addressed. His library runs to some 13,000 books and who knows how many science journals he devoured through the years.

Being a take-action man, he didn't seek information for its own sake. He seemed to want to get to grips with problems so that he could not only be an advocate for change but model new approaches or solutions.

Recently I watched a BBC documentary about the Duke which featured a section on the shop he developed on crown land. The shop sells organic vegetables and the like, all of them grown on the Windsor Great Park estate, of which he was the Ranger for 70 years.

As he and the camera crew drove around the estate, he spoke with keen interest about the goings-on of the vast property and the practical challenges it faced.

When asked whether he'd ever taken a "short course of study" in managing such an estate, he replied that he'd simply learned on the job. He added that his time in the navy had also taught him much about administration and managing problems.

Despite his sometimes self-deprecating approach, Prince Philip was obviously a man who read widely on the kinds of problems the estate would face.

He was also interested in aspects of spirituality and particularly in ways in which various religious groups might work together.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, noted this week that, "the Duke would have been the first to harrumph strongly at an over-spiritualisation of the world he found, let alone of himself." Yet he was a student of religion.

He also painted landscapes and was, as most people know, an accomplished carriage competition driver. He helped draw up the rules for the sport.

He was keenly interested in engineering, once saying that whatever God didn't create, engineering did.