We will use your email address only for sending you newsletters. Please see our Privacy Notice for details of your data protection rights.

The Queen and Prince Philip have had the longest marriage of any British sovereign in history. For decades Prince Philip has been by the Queen’s side, only retiring from public duties in 2017 at the remarkable age of 96. During a speech marking the couple’s 50th wedding anniversary in 1997, the Queen said Philip had been her “strength and stay” over the years, and that the country “owe him a debt greater than he would ever claim”.

How did Prince Philip and the Queen meet?

When Philip and Elizabeth were children, they met at the wedding of Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark and Prince George, Duke of Kent, in 1934.

At the time Philip was Prince of Greece and Denmark, while Princess Elizabeth was the heir to the throne as King George VI’s eldest daughter.

Elizabeth and Philip later met again in 1939 at the Royal Naval College at Dartmouth, when Elizabeth visited the grounds with her family.

Philip was 18-years-old and training at the college at the time, and Elizabeth was 13.

Royal author Christopher Warwick told Vanity Fair: “There had been an outbreak of measles or chickenpox at the Royal Naval College, so Philip had been delegated to look after them and play games with Elizabeth and Margaret.

“And when he got tired of playing train sets with them, it’s famously known that he said, ‘Let’s go and jump the nets on the tennis courts.’

“And Princess Elizabeth was just overwhelmed [by Philip], really.

“Her governess, Marion Crawford, recorded [in her diary] that Elizabeth said, ‘See how he jumps.’”

Elizabeth and Philip would later begin exchanging letters to each other, and Philip went away to serve in the Navy during World War 2.

In 1946 Elizabeth and Philip got engaged, but the announcement of the couple’s engagement was not made until 1947 after Elizabeth turned 21.

Philip renounced his own titles as Prince of Greece and Denmark to marry the future Queen, and he became a naturalised British citizen, taking on the surname of his maternal uncle Lord Louis Mountbatten.

DON’T MISS: 
Prince Charles may NEVER become King, expert warns [ANALYSIS]
Piers Morgan rips into The Crown for fake news about the Queen [VIDEO]
Duped Princess Diana is still queen of hearts says VANESSA FELTZ [COMMENT]

On November 20, 1947, Princess Elizabeth married Philip Mountbatten at Westminster Abbey.

Philip was created the Duke of Edinburgh by Elizabeth’s father, King George VI, and for a time Elizabeth was known as the Duchess of Edinburgh.

Elizabeth and Philip welcomed Prince Charles in 1948 and Princess Anne in 1950.

But their time as just an ordinary family would not last long, as King George VI died at the age of 56 in 1952.

When was the Queen’s coronation?

Elizabeth ascended the throne as Queen Elizabeth II, and her coronation was held on June 2, 1953 at Westminster Abbey.

Preparations for the big day took 14 months, and Philip was chairman of the dedicated Coronation Commission.

Philip attended the coronation and pledged his allegiance to the Queen, stating he would be her “liege man of life and limb”.

Future king Prince Charles also attended the coronation and was seen seated next to the Queen Mother, but Princess Anne was deemed too young to attend.

The Queen’s coronation was the first to ever be televised in Britain, and thousands lined the streets of London to catch a glimpse of the new monarch.

The coronation service started at 11.15am, and lasted for almost three hours.

In total, 8,251 guests attended the coronation at the Abbey, including other members of the Royal Family, politicians and diplomats from around the world.

Source: Read Full Article