Barring last minute accidents, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, will become Britain’s longest serving Royal consort on Sunday.

Prince Philp joking with TV reporter Romilly Weeks

The previous title holder was Queen Charlotte, wife of King George III, who managed 57 years 70 days while leaving little legacy or collective memory in the annals of the nation.

Prince Philip will be very different. While not aspiring to Prince Albert’s almost equal status with Queen Victoria, Philip has supported Queen Elizabeth loyally for more than 60 years, first as Princess, then as Monarch.

Where Albert’s energy for big projects, like the Great Exhibition of 1851, was unlimited, Philip has contented himself with diplomatic, low key endeavours, like the immensely successful World Wildlife Fund, originally set up with Peter Scott in the 1950s, and the perennial Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme for energetic youngsters.

Perhaps his one discordant note to the world of politics has been his absolute refusal to follow codes of so-called political correctness. This has led to a reputation for “gaffes” — a kind of humour for grownups — which has resulted in apologies to tourists, Scots, Indians, the deaf, the unemployed, Canadians, Tom Jones, British women and Cantonese cooks.* The sheer variety of the list indicates how widely-based his humour is, and largely without rancour.

My bet is that Prince Philip will not only be the longest serving consort, but also one of the most memorable in all British history.

* List thanks to Gill Hornby.

An impressive memorial to the Queen Mother was unveiled by the Queen today on The Mall, directly before and below the statue of her husband, King George VI.

The Queen was accompanied by her children and grandchildren, the Prince of Wales with the Duchess of Cornwall, Princess Anne, Princes William and Harry, and the Duke of York with Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie.

Prince Charles gave a dignified personal tribute to his grandmother, to whom he was particularly close.

“At long last my grandparents are reunited in this joint symbol which, in particular, reminds us of all they stood for, and meant to so many, during the darkest hours this country has ever faced.

“All of us gathered here today will, I know, miss my darling grandmother’s vitality, her interest in the lives of others, her unbounded courage and determination that allowed her — incredibly — to continue her official life to the age of nearly 102; her perceptive wisdom, her calm in the face of all adversities, her steadfast belief in the British people and, above all, her irresistible, irrepressible sense of mischievous humour. How blessed we were to have known her and her generosity of spirit.”

It was the kind of occasion that put last night’s Channel 4 documentary, The Problem Princes in perspective.

With a full-blown slump but months away, the Queen is setting the trend for the nation, as she has in past times of trouble.

Her natural frugality certainly chimes with the times we’re living through. Early on in the credit crunch, the Queen was ahead of the curve when she cancelled her Diamond Wedding party at the Ritz last March.

Mary Riddell writes in the Telegraph that the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, hopes the Queen will bring back the feelgood factor to the nation by demonstrating how to be cheerful in a depression. Stoicism through thick and thin has always been HM’s strong point. The PM has clearly noticed.

Gerald Warner, writing in his blog, makes an interesting point: “Gordon Brown wants the Queen and the royal family to lead the nation in hair-shirt frugality, to give an example to the rest of us in these poverty-stricken times. Which is strange, considering it is only three days since Gordon threw good money after bad by doubling the National Debt to £1 trillion [$1.5tr].”

The Prime Minister is, says Warner, hiding behind the Queen’s skirt.

Constitutional expert Peter Hennessey reinforces the point, “The Queen does not need Number 10 to make her into an effective focus for the country. She is such a remarkable figure, she naturally fulfils that function. The Queen has this great gift for adapting without going for fads or fashions. She does not need telling what is required to do. She just does it.”

However, Mary Riddell reports, “At Number 10, where the House of Windsor’s tactics are being followed with interest, Mr Brown is said to speak ‘in affectionate terms’ of his meetings with the Queen.”

The Queen has apparently ordered all senior members of the Royal Family only to be present at low-key occasions and to avoid glossy or glamorous events.

Prince William and Prince Harry have been asked to cleave to the military, while avoiding nightclubs and big, brassy charitable parties.

Royal women will be expected to recycle their outfits, something Princess Anne has been doing for decades. All in all, the Royals will set the style and tone for the hard times to come, with the Queen, as always, way out in front.

The Queen visited Google’s London headquarters in Victoria today, together with the Duke of Edinburgh.

To mark the occasion, the giant internet search company put up a new logo on its google.co.uk site (pictured).

The highlight of the visit was when Queen and Duke were shown a YouTube clip of a baby with an infectious laugh. Both were reduced to giggles by the footage.

They were also introduced to co-founder of YouTube Chad Hurley, as well as software engineers, senior managers, and other staff.

The Queen uploads a video to the Royal Channel on YouTube

Nikesh Arora, President of Google Europe, Middle East and Africa, who escorted the Queen around Google HQ, said: “She did seem very, very interested in everything going on. She has used YouTube and has her own Royal Channel and understands what our products are about.”

The Royal Channel was launched last Christmas and has been viewed 1.6 million times by Web users. It’s now one of the most popular destinations on the site.