It’s been seven many years since Prince Philip wrote to Queen Elizabeth II to say he had “fallen in love utterly and unreservedly” together with her, and the couple have been collectively ever since — by marriage, childbirths, triumphs and trials.
An 8-year-old Elizabeth met Philip in 1934 whereas attending a marriage for Princess Marina and Prince George. 5 years later, the pair reconnected at ages 13 and 18 whereas they had been on the Royal Naval School in Dartmouth. Their second encounter is the place they fell in love and started exchanging letters.
After getting engaged in July 1947, they tied the knot that November at Westminster Abbey in London. They’d go on to welcome 4 kids: Prince Charles, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward.
“He’s somebody who doesn’t take simply to compliments however he has, fairly merely, been my power and keep all these years,” the monarch mentioned during a speech on her golden wedding ceremony anniversary in 1997. “And I, and his complete household, and this and plenty of different nations owe him a debt larger than he would ever declare, or we will ever know.”
Elizabeth and Philip have gone on to change into the longest-married couple in the history of the British royal family. “[Their love] has withstood the check of time primarily as a result of they love each other very a lot,” royal skilled Christopher Warwick informed Vanity Fair in Might 2020. “In a personal capability, he has all the time been deferred to by the queen as head of the household.”
The British historian continued, “It’s a really symbiotic relationship and a really agency partnership, beginning off, in fact, with these early conferences, this early correspondence — which turned a friendship, which turned affection, which turned love.”
Philip, for his half, has spoken about what he believes has helped create a long-lasting bond between the pair. “I believe the principle lesson that we’ve realized is that tolerance is the one important ingredient of any completely happy marriage,” he mentioned whereas celebrating their fiftieth wedding ceremony anniversary in 1997. “It is probably not fairly so vital when issues are going effectively, however it’s completely very important when the going will get tough. You’ll be able to take it from me that the queen has the quality of tolerance in abundance.”
See the timeline beneath to relive their early romance, their engagement and wedding ceremony, and the ups and downs of their marriage.
