Britain's Prince Philip initially agreed to have his life filmed for the documentary "The Duke" in order to create his own "legacy work," a source says.

A source close to the Royal family said the 88-year-old prince decided to cooperate with the two-part ITV documentary in order to show another side of his personality beyond the grumpy image typically shown in the media, The Mail on Sunday reported.

"Philip very much sees this as a legacy work. He was keen to have something to counteract his image, which is often unfairly negative," the insider said.

"Duke" producer Kim Turberville confirmed that Philip, who recently sought medical attention for a chest infection, wanted to clarify certain aspects of his life through the documentary.

"Philip got tired of people saying things about him that were not true and felt it was time he set the record straight," Turberville said. "The theme is that he is a modernizer."

The first part of the documentary airs on Monday on ITV. (c) UPI