I thought he was ok despite the racism.  The Duke of Edinburgh Award helped many thousands and watching those old clips from the 50s and 60 he was quite forward-thinking for the day and he did have quite a sense of humour and that I'd never picked up on in his latter years. 

The country does tend to go into full-on North Korea mode on big Royal occasions.  So 99 and in quite good health for most of those 99 years is pretty good going for anyone. 

Agree Carnelian...I've watched the footage of his life story and came to the conclusion that he was a good man ultimately & was generally well respected by all those he came into contact with.
It is a shame he came so close to being 100, but I guess the fact that he died peacefully is far more important.