His surprise move to bestow the honour on the 93-year-old prince puzzled the nation, infuriated backbenchers in his own government, drew attention away from the Australian of the Year — anti-domestic violence campaigner Rosie Batty — and gave Opposition leader Bill Shorten yet another opportunity to lambast Mr Abbott as being out of touch. 

Which begs the question, what on earth was the prime minister thinking?

Monarchists will argue that the honour for the husband of Britain’s monarch Queen Elizabeth II is well-deserved after a lifetime of service and dedication to the Commonwealth, numerous charities and other good causes, but most will see it as an act of insufferable, self-indulgent toadying from a prime minister seeking favour from a British institution that bears little relevance to today’s multicultural Australia.

The fact that Prince Philip is widely regarded around the world as a gaffe-prone snob with a distasteful penchant for racist humour won’t help Mr Abbott convince Australians that he was right either.

From his privileged, taxpayer-funded position, Prince Philip has insulted indigenous Australians, Asians, women, Indians, the Scots and even, according to some reports, deaf children.

He presents as an old-fashioned bigot steeped in the boorish, pompous and outdated culture that makes much of the British aristocracy so unpalatable in a progressive, modern world.

Mr Abbott faced condemnation for restoring the knights and dames honours system in the first place but managed to quell some of the furore by arguing, falsely it now transpires, that it would be for pre-eminent Australians.

It is not surprising, then, that Mr Abbott is facing a backbench revolt of his own making and this latest, unfathomable action sadly demonstrates beyond doubt that he is a prime minister for the past, not the future.