Alex Carson
The Royal Family
It seems as though you cannot pick up a magazine or watch television today without hearing something about the Royal family. The wedding of Princess Diana and Prince Charles was televised all over the world, and millions of people watched. The same is true when Prince William married Kate Middleton, and when Prince Harry married Megan Markle. These weddings were a bit different from the wedding of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip because Royal weddings back then were not televised.
The Queen and the Prince
Queen Elizabeth II and her husband, Prince Philip, met when they were very young. Queen Elizabeth was just 13-years-old when she fell in love with Prince Philip, who was a naval officer and older than her at the time. After meeting, the couple began writing letters to each other. Soon, romance blossomed.
Together
Queen Elizabeth’s family had reservations about Prince Phillip, but love won, and they were married in 1947. A few years later, in 1953, Elizabeth became queen and Philip was by her side, supporting her at every turn.
Different Upbringings
The two had very different childhoods. Elizabeth grew up with the usual royal privileges and never wanted for anything. Philip grew up poor, and his family was exiled from their native Greece when he was just a child. His family moved to France, and he was then raised by his grandmother in the United Kingdom. To help earn money for his family, Philip washed dishes and operated boilers when he was young. When he graduated from
The Couple’s First Meeting
When the couple first met, they weren’t introduced. When they met a second time at a royal wedding, they were formally introduced in 1934. A few years later, they crossed paths again, and this was when Elizabeth fell for Phillip. The meeting occurred at Dartmouth’s Royal Naval College in July 1939 when Elizabeth was 13-years-old, and Philip was 18-years old. According to Elizabeth’s cousin, Margaret Rhodes, Elizabeth never took her eyes off Philip. He didn’t pay her much mind due to her young age, but she only had eyes for Philip.
Reservations
Elizabeth’s family didn’t approve of Philip at first. He was a foreign prince with no money and no land. This worried Elizabeth’s family. They also didn’t like his loud personality, which was in sharp contrast to Elizabeth’s father’s mild-mannered personality. When the couple married, they did so in secret. Elizabeth’s parents didn’t know, but when she told them, they asked her not to announce her formal announcement until after Elizabeth’s 21st birthday.
The Media
The British media became preoccupied with Philip’s foreign origin. After World War II, a huge controversy began when new of Philip’s sisters’ marriages to German noblemen who were like to the Nazis were discovered. The constant negative media attention was difficult for Elizabeth and Philip, but they didn’t care. Love prevailed. To appease the press, Philip changed his religion from Greek Orthodox to the Church of England.
The Wedding
Because World War II had just ended and Britain was still recovering, Elizabeth had to use ration coupons to order her wedding dress. This also had a significant impact on the guest list. Elizabeth’s wedding was far from the Royal weddings of today. Shortly after the wedding, the couple started a family. Prince Charles was born in 1948, and Princess Anne was born in 1950. When the children were young, the family was away from home a lot because Philip was working in Malta with the Royal Navy. Soon, Philip gave up his post in the army to be at Buckingham Palace with his wife and family.
Sticking Together
The couple stuck together through thick and thin. Prince Philip hated the idea of the tradition of the Royal family because his children could not have his last name. When Queen Mary passed away, and Elizabeth became queen, she made a few unprecedented changes. They decided to use the last name, Mountbatten-Windsor for the last name of their male descendants who didn’t have royal titles. In 1960, Elizabeth gave birth to Prince Andres, and in 1964, Prince Edward was born. They were a happy family.
Sharing a Bloodline
The Queen And Prince Philip Have Been Married Over 70 Years – But They’re Actually Blood Relatives. It is not uncommon for royal families to be interconnected. Royal would marry into different European dynasties to create alliances for political gain. Both Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth are related to Queen Victoria, who sat on the British throne from 1837 until 1901. She married Prince Albert, and they had five daughters and four sons. They had 42 grandchildren, and eight of them became European monarchs. They were very distantly related but still share a bloodline.
