Prince Philip's nearest and dearest had been lined up to share their favourite memories of him for a special documentary to celebrate his 100th birthday.
But tragically, the planned programme ended up being a tribute to the Queen's 'strength and stay' following his death just months before his big day.
Prince Philip : The Family Remembers, which aired on the BBC last night, offered a rare insight into The Firm's private life behind closed doors, and emotional accounts of their final moments with the Duke of Edinburgh.
We've taken a look back at some of the most interesting and sweet moments from the show.
Philip's last words to Charles - and he was witty until the end
Prince Philip was known for his quick wit - and it appears it stayed with him to the final days of his life.
In one moving interview, Prince Charles recalled the last time he spoke to his father - the day before he died at Windsor Castle.
Charles said he rang him to ask him what he would like to do to celebrate his 100th birthday.
The Prince of Wales described how he tentatively broached the subject with his father, daring to suggest a party he knew Philip was not keen on.
"We're talking about your birthday," Charles said he told his dad.
Knowing his father was slightly hard of hearing, he then repeated himself more loudly, emphasising: 'We're talking about your birthday! And whether there's going to be a reception!'
To which Charles said Philip replied sharply, without missing a beat: "Well, I've got to be alive for it, haven't I?"
Charles then said: "I told him 'I knew you'd say that!'" and added that it was a happy memory.
Philip met Princess Eugenie's son just weeks before his death
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Another sweet moment in the documentary was when Princess Eugenie revealed her young son August got to meet Philip - his great-grandfather - shortly before his death.
August was born on February 9 this year and holding back the tears, Eugenie explained: "We named August, August Philip because grandpa has been such a huge, inspiring character in my life.
"I brought little August to come and meet him and told him that we had named him after him and it was such a lovely moment.
"We were very lucky to do that."
Kate and William's love of Norfolk is down to Philip
The Sandringham estate in Norfolk plays a huge part in royal life - and Philip was behind shaping it into the estate his family love so much.
And in one poignant clip, Prince William revealed this is part of the reason why he and wife the Duchess of Cambridge love Norfolk so much.
The couple has a home, Anmer Hall, on the estate and William revealed: "Sandringham has always been a really, really important part of his life.
"He was tasked with being the warden, managing the estate from 1952. I think for him, being up here, was an escape.
"He likes the fact that he's been able to have an impact here… He's planted over 40 kilometres of hedge land, 45 woods, over two million trees. These things really matter to the makeup of the surrounding area.
"For me, coming here and now living here, everything that he's done has led up to Catherine and I feeling that this is a part of the country we want to be in. We love this area, it feels like home, and that's because of what he's created."
The royals love a mustard prank
In one of the more light-hearted moments from the documentary, the royals talked about Philip's love of practical jokes - including one long-running prank involving mustard.
While dining at Balmoral, Prince William revealed his grandfather would get family members to hold a tube of mustard in their hands before removing the lid.
William recalled: "He would squish your hands together to fire the mustard up into the ceiling.
"He used to get into a lot of trouble with my grandmother for covering most of the places where we had lunch with mustard."
Peter Phillips and Zara Tindall also touched upon their grandfather's fondness for the mustard prank.
Zara explained: "I can’t remember exactly what he says but he ends up slamming your hands together…. It goes all over the ceiling."
Philip loved the Hairy Bikes - but wouldn't let anyone else touch the barbecue
Prince Harry referred to his grandad as King of the Barbecue in his tribute following's Philip's death in April, and his love for cooking was mentioned again during the documentary.
Charles said: "He adored barbecuing and he turned that into an interesting art form.
"And if I ever tried to do it he... I could never get the fire to light or something ghastly so (he'd say): 'Go away!"'
William added: "Every barbecue that I've ever been on, the Duke of Edinburgh has been there cooking... he's definitely a dab hand at the barbecue.
"I can safely say there's never been a case of food poisoning in the family that's attributed to the Duke of Edinburgh."
And it turns out Philip liked watching cookery shows as well as doing it himself, and was a big fan of the Hairy Bikers.
Sophie Wessex told the programme: "Cooking is something that I love talking to him about. And he loves watching cookery programmes. Hairy Bikers, I think is one of his favourites."
His office was very, very neat
Prince Philip spent 70 years working in exactly the same office in Buckingham Palace - and his desk was very well organised.
He arranged it so he had everything close to hand and it also featured a letter rack and a control panel, which could open the curtains.
Aside from the stationery there were lots of affectionate items and touching mementoes from his marriage to The Queen, including photos of his wife.
On his desk lay the book ' Men, Machines & Sacred Cows', a collection of essays, lectures and speeches delivered by the Prince on topics such as science, technology and design.
Prince Andrew said: "His study was rather like a bridge of a ship because the bridge of a ship is very well organised in the sense that everything is in reach.
"We all do the same thing, things are arranged around you, but he did it in a more exacting way than you or I would do it."
His hilarious quip to Duke of Edinburgh award participants
One of Prince Philip's lasting legacies is his Duke of Edinburgh's Award scheme - and during the documentary his family spoke proudly of how he set it up.
But Prince William revealed a rather more hilarious moment related to the scheme when he and his grandfather spotted some hikers taking part in it while they were on a drive in Scotland.
William said: "[Philip] stopped and wound down his window and said, 'Good morning. How are you getting on?'
"To which the smallest young chap at the back turned round and effectively said, 'Jog on Grandpa!'"
After the boy's cheeky response, the Duke wound the car window up and smiled before turning to his grandson and saying: "The youth of today!"
A giggling William added: "I obviously can't say what they did say but for the purposes of this film I thought jog on was a more appropriate way of saying it."
Lady Louise Windsor completed the Duke of Edinburgh Award in honour of Philip
Making her public speaking debut in the documentary was the Queen and Prince Philip's youngest granddaughter Lady Louise Windsor.
The 17-year-old, who is the daughter of Prince Edward and Sophie Wessex, spoke fondly of her grandfather - sharing her experiences of taking part in the Duke of Edinburgh's Award scheme.
She said: "I'd always wanted to do it because of the skills that you develop as a result.
"But there was certainly an element of making my grandfather proud and honouring him by taking part in the award that has been so much of his life's work. And I definitely hope that I have made him proud."
Later in the film, Louise talked about how she has taken up Philip's favourite sport of carriage driving.
She added: "The Duke of Edinburgh has been so involved in my driving, but it's slightly scary as he invented the sport pretty much.
"But it's incredible to have learned first-hand from him and it definitely made us closer I think."
Prince Harry does a hilarious impression of the Queen
In one amusing part of the documentary, the royals talked about Philip's love of flying - and how he was an active pilot.
Prince Harry is then seen leafing through flight logs that recorded all of the flights his grandfather flew after becoming qualified. They included logs of flights he piloted during a 1983 trip he made with the Queen to Africa.
Harry says: "He was doing all the flying himself, or certainly chunks of it. When you’re flying, you don’t get an easy pass just for being the Duke of Edinburgh. You very much have to put in the work and prove your skill.
"But also he had an amazing privilege to get behind the controls and fly aircraft all around the world."
He then quips: "'I can just imagine my grandmother sitting in the back of a plane having a cup of tea, going through turbulence and going "Oh Philip! What are you doing?"'
He gave Princess Eugenie a touching home-made wedding present
One of the more surprising and little-known facts about Philip was that he had a love of art and was an accomplished painter.
The documentary showed some of his work, with Camilla noting that some of his paintings were "rather good".
Princess Eugenie also told the show how art was something she had in common with her grandfather - and it led to him presenting her with a touching wedding gift.
She said: "He painted me a painting of a bunch of flowers and gave it to me for my wedding.
"It was so nice and it is now sitting in my house in London and I'm so proud of it, you know."
Philip gave Prince Harry blunt advice before he was posted to Afghanistan
Philip's involvement in the armed forces was another topic that his family members were keen to talk about.
And Prince Harry recalled the moment he told his grandfather he was being posted to Afghanistan, with Philip offering some blunt advice.
Harry, who completed two tours of duty in Afghanistan during his time in the Army, said: "Going off to Afghanistan, he was very matter of fact and just said, 'Make sure you come back alive...'
"Then when I came back, there wasn't a deep level of discussion, more a case of, 'Well you made it. How was it?' That's how he was.
"He was very much a listener, he sort of set the scene for you to be able to share as much as you wanted to share but he would never probe."
