I think at some point endlessly playing second banana to his wife he removed all filters and just said whatever he wanted and he saw lots of odd stuff over the decades-
Right-like putting up with an ungrateful, stupid grandson!
Not every man is driven by sheer ego. Some know how to fulfill duty without losing the self in the process.
I don’t think he ever thought of it as playing ‘second banana’ - I think he just had some fun with it, while being very dutiful behind the scenes.
He knew his position and the importance of it, and was a stalwart support, companion and patriarch through all of those years.