On September eighth, 2022, the British royal family announced the heartbreaking news that
Queen Elizabeth ll died at the age of 96. Her passing comes just a little more than one year
following the death of her husband of 73 years, Prince Phillip. We're going to take a look at
how the couple first met and how their romance blossomed into a love story fit for Royalty.
Long before Queen Elizabeth ruled the British monarchy, she and Phillip met at the Britannia
Royal Naval College in 1939. At the time, 18-year-old Phillip was serving as a cadet, and
he was introduced to Elizabeth when she was just 13 years old while she was touring the college.
Despite her young age, as if it was love at first sight, the pair immediately connected. Because of
her Royal background and the way she was brought up, Elizabeth was very mature for her age, so she
wasn't at all swayed by being in the presence of a man who was five years older than her.
Elizabeth and Phillip soon started exchanging letters
and did so throughout the Second World War.
In 1946, Phillip wrote in one of his letters, "To have been spared in the war and seen victory,
to have been given the chance to rest and to readjust myself, to have fallen in love completely
and unreservedly makes all one's personal and even the world's troubles seem small and petty."
After writing back and forth for around seven years, their friendship blossomed into a romance,
and the pair were so smitten with one another that they secretly got engaged in 1946.
It wasn't much later that King George The 6th, and Queen Elizabeth the first,
happily announced the engagement of their daughter after her 21st birthday.
They shared, "It is with the greatest of pleasure that the King and Queen
announce the betrothal of their dearly beloved daughter, the Princess Elizabeth,
to Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten RN … to which union the King has gladly given his consent,"
Shortly after announcing their engagement to the public, Elizabeth and Phillip posed for a picture
together at Buckingham Palace, which would be the start of many unforgettable memories to come.
The pair married in 1947 at Westminster Abbey in front of 2000 guests. It was a Royal wedding
of epic proportions, and the marriage was a major national celebration. Unfortunately,
it came at a hard time for the country, which was still recovering from World War II.
The newlyweds then went off for their honeymoon at the Scottish royal estate of Balmoral. Just
one year later, right before Elizabeth and Philip were about to celebrate their first
wedding anniversary, the couple welcomed their first child, Charles Philip Arthur George.
During their public outings, it was clear that the couple was still completely smitten
with one another. Even during the 1949 Royal Horse Show at Windsor,
they may have been there to see the horses, but they only had eyes for each other.
In 1950, Elizabeth and Philip welcomed their second child,
a daughter they named Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise. Over the next couple of years,
they were the epitome of a happy marriage, and they had a growing family to show for it.
Sadly, 1952 brought with it the tragic death of King George the 6th. Elizabeth
and Philip were overseas in Kenya when she received the heartbreaking news that her
father had passed away in his sleep, making her the heir to the throne. She returned to
London and was proclaimed Queen and Head of the Commonwealth and Defender of the Faith.
Elizabeth, Philip, and their two children moved out of their Clarence House and into Buckingham
Palace. The following year, with more than 8,000 guests present at Westminster Abbey
and 20 million people tuning in across the world, Elizabeth was crowned as Queen.
During the coronation, Philip knelt and told her, "I, Philip, Duke of Edinburgh,
do become your liege man of life and limb and of earthly worship."
In 1960, just a few days before she gave birth to their third child,
Andrew Albert Christian Edward, Elizabeth told the Privy Council that her descendants
would carry the name Mountbatten-Windsor, a combination of her surname and Philip's,
so they would be distinguished from the rest of the royal family.
Four years later, the Royal couple welcomed their fourth and last child,
Edward Antony Richard Louis.
By 1972, the couple had celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary.
It was reported that Elizabeth and Philip received around 15,000 letters and 2,500
telegrams from around the world congratulating them on their Silver Wedding Anniversary.
Five years later, their daughter, Princess Anne, gave the royal couple their first
royal grandchild when she and husband Mark Phillips welcomed Peter Mark Andrew Phillips.
Anne, hoping to give her children as normal a life as possible,
turned down the Queen's offer to give her children royal titles.
Unfortunately, 1992 brought incredibly difficult times for Queen Elizabeth and
her family. While they had always done their best to put up a good front to the public,
there was no escaping the fact that even though they were Royalty,
they were also still people who went through family troubles just like everyone else.
That year alone, Prince Charles and Princess Diana announced their separation after
11 years of marriage, Prince Andrew separated from wife Sarah Ferguson,
Anne divorced Mark Phillips, and Windsor Castle was severely damaged in a fire.
Divorces and separations were incredibly uncommon for the Royal family, so to have
that many marriages crumble in such a short period of time made it quite a scandal for the public.
During one of her speeches, Queen Elizabeth shared, "1992
is not a year on which I shall look back with undiluted pleasure. In the words of one of my
more sympathetic correspondents, it has turned out to be an annus horribilis."
1997 marked Elizabeth and Phillip's 50th wedding anniversary.
They celebrated the golden occasion with lunch at the Banqueting House in London.
Elizabeth gushed over her husband, sharing, "He has, quite simply, been my strength and
stay all these years, and I, and his whole family, and this and many other countries,
owe him a debt greater than he would ever claim, or we shall ever know."
For her 50th Anniversary as Queen in 2002, Elizabeth praised her husband yet again, saying,
"The Duke of Edinburgh has made an invaluable contribution to my life over these past 50 years."
The following year, the iconic photograph was taken of Elizabeth and Philip, as she laughed
when she realized that one of the men who was dressed up as the Queen's Guard was her husband.
In 2007, the Royal couple celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary. To commemorate the special
day, Elizabeth and Philip did a recreation of a photo from their wedding day all those years ago.
It was time for another grand Royal wedding in 2011
when Prince William and Duchess Kate Middleton wed. Elizabeth and her husband happily took to
the sidelines as they celebrated their grandson's special union.
Unfortunately, the following year Philip was admitted to Hospital after suffering
from a bladder infection. His hospitalization caused him to miss that year's Diamond Jubilee
celebrations in London, but Elizabeth made sure to be by her husband's side during his recovery.
In 2013, Elizabeth presented her husband with the Order of New Zealand,
which is New Zealand's highest honor, at Buckingham Palace.
Just four years later, after countless public engagements, speeches, international trips,
and even writing fourteen books, Philip retired from his Royal duty.
The couple celebrated their platinum anniversary, 70 years of marriage, in 2017.
This marked a historic moment for the Royal Family, as it made Elizabeth and Philip the
longest marriage in British Royal history. As a couple, they were determined to show their
unwavering support for one another; with everything they went through as a family,
they always stood by each other no matter what life chose to throw at them.
Sadly, a few months after their 73rd wedding anniversary, Philip was admitted to Hospital
as a "precautionary measure" after feeling ill. He was discharged one month later after receiving
"treatment for an infection and a successful procedure for a preexisting condition."
Unfortunately, Philip's health continued to decline, and in April of 2021,
Buckingham Palace confirmed that he "passed away peacefully" at Windsor Castle.
He died just two months short of his 100th birthday.
The Queen honored Philip at his funeral by placing a handwritten note on top of his casket.
The letter read, "I love you," and included her childhood nickname,
"Lilibet." During the services, Elizabeth was spotted wiping away a tear as she sat alone
due to international pandemic protocols at the time.
A few days after his funeral, Queen Elizabeth turned 95 years old without
her beloved husband there to celebrate with her.
The Queen shared, "My family and I would like to thank you for all the support and kindness
shown to us in recent days. We have been deeply touched, and continue to be reminded
that Philip had such an extraordinary impact on countless people throughout his life."
The following year brought around Queen Elizabeth's first Christmas without Philip by her
side. She paid tribute to her late husband during her annual Christmas address with her speech,
wearing a broach from their honeymoon and a photo of him on the table beside her.
She said, "Although it's a time of great happiness and good cheer for many,
Christmas can be hard for those who have lost loved ones.
This year, especially, I understand why." Adding, "His sense of service, intellectual curiosity
and capacity to squeeze fun out of any situation were all irrepressible. That mischievous,
enquiring twinkle was as bright at the end as when I first set eyes on him."
A source close to the Royal family later shared,
"Christmas was a bit of a struggle for the queen without Prince Philip by her side."
In September of this year, Queen Elizabeth passed away at 96 years old,
making her the longest reigning British monarch. Buckingham Palace announced
the tragic news in a statement, "The Queen died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon.
There's no denying that the couple's decades-long relationship has stood the test of time. They had
an undeniable bond from the very beginning, and their commitment to one another was unbreakable.
They faced numerous ups and downs, life in the public eye,
and of course, the pressure of being Royals. But through it all, they had each other.
Both Queen Elizabeth and her husband lived full lives, and their legacy will continue
to live on through their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.