Nicola Sturgeon led tributes to the “extraordinary life” of the Duke of Edinburgh at a recalled Scottish parliament.
MSPs returned to Holyrood during the election campaign to pay their respects to Prince Philip, who died on Friday, and stood for a minute’s silence.
Sturgeon, the first minister, said that he had been a “thoughtful man, deeply interesting and fiercely intelligent”.
She said that as “a serious bookworm” he engaged in literary conversations with her that were “often for me a real highlight” of meetings.
After marrying Princess Elizabeth, Sturgeon said that Philip “faced the additional challenge of being the husband of a powerful woman, at a time when that was even more of an exception than it is today”.
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She added: “That reversal of the more traditional dynamic was highly unusual in the 1940s, 50s and 60s and even now isn’t as common as it might be. Yet the Duke of Edinburgh was devoted to supporting the Queen, they were a true partnership.”
“It is right that our parliament pays tribute to him today. In doing so we mourn his passing and we extend our deepest sympathy to Her Majesty the Queen and his family. We reflect on his distinguished wartime record, his love and support for the Queen and his decades of public service to Scotland, the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth. Above all we celebrate and we honour an extraordinary life.”
Ruth Davidson, the Scottish Conservative leader at Holyrood, said that most people would think of Philip as “an elderly man” who was “ gruff, witty [and] still able to stand ramrod straight”. But she added he had been a “dashing young naval officer” who went on to become a “palace moderniser”.
She said: “He was a man that was born before the discovery of penicillin, before the creation of the United Nations or the invention of the television or the jet engine. “But a moderniser he was in life, as well as in work. How many men in the 1950s gave up their job for their wife’s career?” she siad.
She also recalled that he had once asked Annabel Goldie, who was the Scottish Tory leader, about her underwear, at an event in Holyrood held to mark Pope Benedict’s visit to Scotland.
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Davidson said: “Seeing Iain Gray [the former Scottish Labour leader] sporting a tie in the papal tartan, the Duke turned to Tory leader Annabel Goldie to ask if she had a pair of knickers made out of this. Quite properly, Annabel retorted, ‘I couldn’t possibly comment, and even if I did I couldn’t possibly exhibit them.’”
She praised the Duke for a “life of remarkable public service”.
Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader, described Philip as “an extraordinary public servant, who dedicated his long life to our country” who deserved praise for “transforming lives for young people across the world, and promoting the issue of global conservation that we all now recognise is so important”.
Patrick Harvie, the Scottish Green Party co-leader, said that his party had “reflected carefully” on whether to take part in the motion of condolence because of its rebpulican stance.
He said that it would be “wrong to imply by our absence any kind of personal disrespect to those who have lost someone important to them”.
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“This has been a year of terrible loss for the world, including up to 150,000 Covid deaths across the UK, most of them announced without ceremony as daily statistics,” Harvie added.
Willie Rennie, the Scottish Liberal Democrat leader, said that he did not agree with the characterisation of some that the Duke of Edinburgh was an “offensive man”. He said: “For so many, he has been part of a family that has provided comfort and stability in what can be a turbulent and intimidating world.”
