Is the husband of Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain alive? Philip the Magnificent
A lot is written about Queen Elizabeth, but her husband always seems to be in the shadows.
As a girl, she never imagined that she would become a queen. But as a result of the crisis of the British monarchy, when Edward VIII chose to give up the throne for the sake of his love for the American Wallis Simpson, who was disliked by the court, in 1936 his brother George VI, Elizabeth’s father, was on the throne. And on February 6, 1952, at the age of 25, after the unexpected death of George, Elizabeth was proclaimed queen.
As the head of state, she is accustomed to constantly being in the public eye, defending the country's age-old traditions. Her every day is planned down to the minute, she is interested in everything that happens around her, keeping her finger on the pulse of events. For most people on earth, she is a symbol of Great Britain, and they cannot imagine the country without her. But who is the person who always and everywhere accompanies Elizabeth, being one step behind her? Her husband Philip, Duke of Edinburgh is the man who won the queen's heart once and for all.
Elizabeth II got married five years before accession to the throne.
Her chosen one, Philip Mountbatten (who later became the Duke of Edinburgh) was born on the island of Corfu and was a descendant of the Danish-Greek royal family. His grandfather was assassinated in 1913, his uncle Constantine was dethroned in 1917, and his cousin George II abdicated the crown in 1923.
Philip's family was expelled from Greece when he was just a year old, and according to some accounts, he arrived in Britain in an orange box. As an adult, Prince Philip forever refused the opportunity to take the Greek throne, accepting English citizenship.
If you imagine an ideal prince, then the image of the Duke of Edinburgh should appear before the eyes of any romantic girl. They say that his beauty had such an all-conquering power that women fainted at the sight of him.
Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark
Prince Philip with parents and sisters
The princess fell in love with young Philip at the age of 13 - for the first time and for the rest of her life.
While traveling on her parents' yacht, Elizabeth and her younger sister Margaret met a handsome 18-year-old midshipman from the Royal Naval College in Dortmoor. Philip, having played croquet with the girls, conveniently forgot about the acquaintance.
Philip's education was handled by his uncle, who paid for his studies at a private British school, and later at the Royal Naval College at Dartmouth. It was there in July 1939, during the visit of George VI and his family, that thirteen-year-old Elizabeth first managed to communicate with her second cousin, cadet Philip. The young man's uncle, Royal Navy officer Dickie Mountbatten, and his nephew were invited to tea with the royal family. Even then, the princess's governess noticed that "Lilibet could not take her eyes off him." Which, however, was not at all surprising: the 18-year-old prince was a tall, handsome blond, and also beautifully built.
But the young British princess, having played just one game with him, fell recklessly in love. She waited for her chosen one for six whole years, although the entire royal family did not approve of her falling in love. The Grandfather King did not really like this candidacy for Elizabeth’s chosen one.
After all, Lieutenant Mountbatten, now His Royal Highness Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, although he was not a commoner, came from an impoverished dynasty that had long since lost power.
The match was not brilliant... Grandfather also did not like the fact that Elizabeth made a hasty choice and settled on the first young man whom she had barely met.
And besides, the princess and prince were second cousins - Queen Victoria was their great-great-grandmother. The royal family believed that young Elizabeth needed to think carefully and make a more informed decision.
However, the princess had no idea of giving up her childhood dreams, she was still in love, and it was not in her character to retreat.
According to rumors, Elizabeth, like her legendary great-great-grandmother Victoria, herself proposed to her future husband.
In any case, there is no information in the archives of the royal family confirming that the prince made the marriage proposal.
After the death of his father, Philip finally moved to London and became a frequent guest at Buckingham Palace. During the war, he went to the front, continuing to send Elizabeth long and tender letters. And in the summer of 1946 he proposed to the princess, which she immediately accepted, without even consulting her parents. Elizabeth (later the Queen Mother) and George VI did not hide the fact that they would like the best match for their daughter. Philip's father, Prince Andrew, left his son neither fortune nor land holdings - nothing except his pedigree and the signet ring, which the Duke still wears to this day. However, George and Elizabeth relented, blessing their daughter’s marriage.
The title of HRH Duke of Edinburgh was given to Philip by King George V on the eve of his wedding. Elizabeth's wedding became the first and only case in British history of the marriage of the presumptive heir to the throne.
The wedding ceremony of Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh took place at Westminster Abbey on November 20, 1947.
The hair of the eight bridesmaids was decorated with miniature wreaths of white satin and brocade with silver thread, made by Jac Ltd of London
The wedding ceremony of Princess Elizabeth and Philip began at Westminster Abbey on November 20, 1947 at 11:30 GMT. Tens of thousands of people gathered near the abbey, wanting to see the princess in her wedding dress. As expected, the bride was accompanied to the altar by her father. She wore an ivory satin dress embroidered with thousands of pearl and crystal beads. It took court designer Sir Norman Harnell several months to create it.
The five-meter veil was carried by two pages: Princes Michael of Kent and William. The veil was decorated with lace and held on her head by a diamond tiara that belonged to her mother. The Queen Mother received the tiara from her mother Queen Mary, who in turn inherited it as a wedding gift from Queen Victoria. After the wedding, Philip entered the service of the Admiralty and received the title Duke of Edinburgh.
The newlyweds began to lead an active social life. They often went to races at Ascot and Epson (horses have always been the queen’s main passion, and she herself is an excellent rider),
They appeared at receptions together, went to dances, without denying themselves anything.
On November 14, 1948, Elizabeth gave birth to a boy, Charles Philip Arthur George. Soon the Duke was appointed first lieutenant of the mission in the Mediterranean, in Malta.
Elizabeth followed her husband. They were left to each other. The princess was busy running the house, communicating with the wives of other officers, meeting with them for 5 o’clock tea with scones and orange jam. “I think she was happy to just be a wife,” recalls her cousin Marguerite Rhodes. “Then she was able to feel what ordinary life is like.”
After Philip's mission was completed, Elizabeth returned to London already in her sixth month of pregnancy. Soon she gave birth to a daughter, Anna Elizabeth Alice Louise.
But the happiness was not complete: members of the royal family were concerned about the rapidly deteriorating health of King George VI. In February 1952, he died from a blood clot in his heart. Philip was the first to know about his death. At this time, he and Elizabeth were touring Kenya, and he knew that this news would be a real shock for his wife. Philip has always been his wife's main support. And he became the first who, traditionally bowing his knee, took an oath of allegiance to his queen: “I, Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, become your lifelong vassal and lowest servant; I promise to serve you faithfully and die for you, no matter what happens. May God help me!”
The coronation of Elizabeth II was the most democratic in the history of England. The Queen insisted on broadcasting on British television, arguing: “People have to see me to believe me.”
Immediately after the ceremony, the couple set off on a trip around the world, which lasted almost six months. In the history of the British monarchy, such a grandiose journey was the first. Philip left the service, he accompanied his wife everywhere and tried to be her faithful assistant and adviser in state affairs.
However, not everything was rosy in their family life. After the death of George VI, Philip's uncle, Dickie, raised the issue that the ruling house should henceforth be the House of Mountbatten, rather than Windwell - a statement that was met with hostility by Queen Mother Elizabeth and Queen Mary. Prime Minister Winston Churchill was also against it.
Elizabeth listened to the wise and experienced Churchill and refused to take her husband's surname. “I am the only person in the whole United Kingdom who cannot give his own surname to his own children,” Philip lamented. The ridicule of the courtiers fairly irritated the duke, and he reacted to them quite sharply. Meanwhile, the young queen had less and less time for her children and husband, and a certain detachment appeared in their relationship.
However, Philip soon managed to find a job he liked and his place in society. He began to engage in charity work, and quite successfully. His focus is on sports, youth, environmental protection and education issues. In the spring of 1959, the Queen became pregnant again. This time she decided to reconsider her surname, changing it to Mountbatten. She wanted to please her husband, whom she continued to love immensely. The result of a long discussion was that Charles and Anne would remain Windsors, while the rest of the heirs would bear the “compromise” surname Mountbatten-Windsor. So, in February 1960, the second son of the royal couple, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, was born. Elizabeth, as a sign of her devotion to her husband, named the boy in honor of Philip's father Andrei.
And in 1964 - Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex
Prince Philip, Queen Elizabeth, Nince Andrew, Prince Edward, Princess Anne, Prince Charles.
Being the husband of a queen regnant is an unenviable “position.”
As the Duke of Edinburgh Philip himself jokes, according to English law it is as if he does not exist.
In Great Britain, the husband of the queen regnant does not become king, but remains a prince consort.
Thus, Philip of Edinburgh has never been and never will be crowned.
He is a private person and is doomed to remain in the shadows.
So what helped the Queen and Duke keep their family together, surviving together until their diamond wedding, which they celebrated in 2007 in Malta? Robert Lacey, a biographer of Elizabeth II, sees the secret of a successful marriage in the fact that “each of them had an unspoken right to their own private life, separate from their spouse. I would call this style “family confederation”. It is clear that Prince Philip must accompany his wife wherever she appears, but the Queen has always had the right to her own interests.
In official life he is always one step behind the queen. At home, however, the Prince Consort was always the head of the family. It is he who makes all the most important family decisions, it is he who decides which school to send the children to study. The late Lord Mountbatten told me a wonderful story about this. Early in their marriage, the Queen and Prince Philip came to visit him in Hampshire. One day the three of them were riding in a car driven by Philip. The Queen sat next to her husband in the front seat. Each time, on turns where he hardly slowed down, the queen held her breath and then exhaled loudly.
Finally, Philip got tired of it, and he told his wife: “If you repeat that again, I will throw you out of the car!” Then Lord Mountbatten turned to her and said: “Darling, you are the queen, how can you allow him to treat you like that?” But the queen was not embarrassed by this rudeness: “He is my husband. I know that if I say a word, he will actually throw me out of the car.” Indeed, Philip treats Elizabeth not only as a queen, but also as a woman, wife and mother of his children. And perhaps this contrast between the queen’s position in society and in the family made her so happy all this time.
As for the personal relationship of Elizabeth II with her husband, unfortunately, the handsome prince turned out to be not such a wonderful husband.
Queen Elizabeth's family relationships were far from serene: there are rumors that the Duke of Edinburgh has illegitimate children, and Philip's relationship with the Queen's cousin Alexandra once turned into a national scandal.
However, Queen Elizabeth II never commented on her husband's actions, at least publicly.
At one time, she showed all her tact and managed to maintain the balance that had been disrupted in the family.
And it saved her marriage.
Elizabeth undividedly recognized her husband's authority in family affairs, and Philip became a reliable support in the performance of her royal duties.
British Royal Family
In 1997, Elizabeth II and Duke of Edinburgh Philip celebrated their golden wedding.
And on November 20, 2007, the royal couple celebrated the 60th anniversary of their marriage - their diamond wedding.
Thus, their marriage is the longest in the history of the British monarchy, and Elizabeth II became the first British monarch to celebrate a diamond wedding.
A ceremony in honor of the anniversary took place in Westminster Abbey on November 19, 2007.
The service dedicated to the celebration was attended by 2,000 guests.
They included five choristers who sang at the wedding of Elizabeth and Philip sixty years ago, as well as 10 couples who celebrated their Diamond Wedding on the same day as the royal couple.
Three generations of the British royal family:
Queen Elizabeth and Duke of Edinburgh,
Prince of Wales Charles and Prince William
And as Antoine de Saint-Exupéry says in his novel “Planet of People”:
“Loving does not mean looking at each other, loving means looking together in the same direction.”
I really like this photo, it perfectly reflects the character of Prince Philip. The queen's husband casually dropped another trademark joke and the strict policeman almost bursts with laughter, trying to stand at attention. And the Prince himself, at 91, as if nothing had happened, walks through the cold to church after a long illness, when the Queen went there by car. Philip goes accompanied only by the groom. This is all he is.
In my opinion, Philip is one of the brightest and most worthy members of the royal family. They don't make things like that anymore.
On May 4, representatives of Buckingham Palace made an official statement that the husband of Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain, Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, will stop fulfilling official obligations and will retire in the fall of 2017.
Prince Philip, 95, has always led a fairly quiet life, although his reputation has been tarnished by the fact that the Queen's husband is not very careful in his statements and has a strange sense of humor. As a young sailor cadet serving in the Royal Navy, and having no chance of a high position in society, he was able to win the heart of the heir to the British throne and throughout his life remained a support for the longest-reigning queen in the world.
The future husband of the Queen of Great Britain was born in Corfu on June 10, 1921, and at birth had the title of Prince of Greece and Denmark. He was the only son of the Greek Prince Andrew. His mother, Princess Alice, belonged to the Battenberg family and was the niece of the Russian Empress Alexandra Feodorovna.
Due to political instability in Greece, the family left the country when Philip was 18 months old and moved to France.
In Paris, the prince studied at an American school. His parents separated, Prince Andrew went to Monte Carlo, where he began to squander the rest of his fortune. And his ex-wife and children remained in Paris, but soon lost her mind due to all the hardships that befell the family. After this sad event, Philip’s father took him in, sent the boy to a closed school and practically forgot about him.
In 1939, the Prince became a cadet in the Royal Navy.
Philip always loved sports. He is pictured playing cricket, July 1947.
Prince Philip completed his naval service in 1951 with the rank of lieutenant commander (captain 3rd rank). In 1952, he was awarded the rank of commander (captain 2nd rank).
Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip met as children at a wedding in 1934. In July 1947, the couple announced their engagement. By the way, they are each other’s fourth cousins.
To marry the heiress, Philip changed his surname to Mountbatten, became a British subject and renounced the titles “Prince of Greece” and “Prince of Denmark”. The couple married on November 20, 1947 at Westminster Abbey.
The newlyweds spent their honeymoon in Hampshire.
Over the next few years the couple lived in Malta, where the Royal Navy was stationed. Their first son, Prince Charles, was born there in 1949. In 1950, Princess Anne was born.
The couple at Clarence House, the residence of the British monarchs, August 1951.
At the age of 25, after the death of her father, King George VI, Elizabeth becomes queen. Philip leaves the fleet.
The prince always had interests outside of his royal duties. In 1953 he received his pilot's license. In the photo, the prince controls a Boeing 757 during a demonstration flight near Seattle.
The third child, Prince Andrew, was born in 1960. The last child, Edward, was born in 1964.
Little Prince Andrew travels with his father for Christmas, 1964.
Elizabeth and Philip have eight grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
Prince William and Philip have a close relationship.
Since Elizabeth took the throne, Prince Philip has dedicated his life to royal duties.
The couple during the royal tour of Canada in 1951.
King Salman Center for Hawk Breeding, Bahrain, 1979.
Guadalcanal Island, Solomon Islands, 1982.
Abu Dhabi, 2010.
Over the past year, Prince Philip attended one hundred official events, which is far more than all the young members of the royal family attended.
Philip sits with Her Majesty as she makes a speech in Parliament.
Celebrating the Queen's 90th birthday.
Being the center of public attention all the time is tiring, and even such self-possessed people lose patience. In 2015, Prince Philip was caught on camera telling a photographer: “Just take the damn photo already.”
At the funeral of Princess Diana, 1997.
Philip is also known for his irreverent and even offensive sense of humor. For example, the Duke asked the Australian aborigines: “Are you still throwing spears at each other?”
He is a patron of about 800 organizations. In 1964-1986 he was president of the International Equestrian Federation, in 1981-1996 - of the World Wildlife Fund. In 1973, he was the first member of the British royal family to visit the USSR.
Elizabeth fell in love with Philip at first sight: they met when she was 13 years old and he was 18. The well-built blond, cadet at the Royal Naval College, immediately fell in love with Philip. A correspondence began between her and Philip.
2. Elizabeth's parents were against her marriage to Philip.
Philip comes from a royal family: at birth he bore the title of Prince of Greece and Denmark. However, Philip's family was expelled from Greece. Leaving his native country, his relatives settled in Paris, and Philip was sent to London, where he studied, received the rank of midshipman and went to serve in the navy during World War II. Although the young man wrote long and tender letters to the future Queen of England from the front, Elizabeth’s relatives were not at all delighted with their daughter’s choice. They believed that Philip was not a match for the princess - his family was ruined. The only inheritance Philip received from his father was a signet ring.
3. Philip had to renounce his title and religion
The wedding of Philip and Elizabeth, however, still took place. True, for her sake the young man had to sacrifice a lot. So, he ceased to be called a Greek prince, became a British subject and converted from Orthodoxy to Anglicanism. He was ready to forever remain in history as the queen's husband.
4. Elizabeth and Philip's wedding was modest
Elizabeth and Philip got married at the end of 1947 - the war had just ended... By royal standards, the wedding was quite modest, although very beautiful. The dress for the main day in her life was made by court designer Norman Hartnell, who was inspired by Sandro Botticelli’s painting “Spring”. “I discovered a painting by Botticelli in the museum, which depicted a girl in ivory silk flowing along her body, strewn with flowers, asparagus and rosebuds. I recreated all this flora using crystal beads and pearls,” he recalled. Elizabeth's head was adorned with her mother's precious tiara, and a five-meter veil was carried by two pages. The outfit was completed with satin heeled sandals, the silver buckles of which were decorated with pearls.
5. Philip became the first to swear an oath of allegiance to Elizabeth as queen
Elizabeth and Philip were inseparable after their wedding. The girl took care of the house and was happy as a wife. Soon the couple had children - Charles and Anna. But in February 1952 the family's quiet life ended. The King of England and Elizabeth's father, George VI, died of a blood clot in the heart... Philip became the first to bend the knee and take an oath of allegiance to Elizabeth II as queen.
6. At first, Elizabeth forbade Philip from giving his children his last name.
After Elizabeth's coronation, Philip had to not only leave his naval service, but devote himself entirely to royal duties. He accompanied the queen on all her trips, helped her in state affairs... The man dreamed that his wife and children would bear his surname, but then the Windsors would officially cease to be rulers - and the Mountbattens would become rulers. Just the thought of this caused indignation among all Elizabeth's relatives. The Queen consulted with Prime Minister Winston Churchill and refused her husband's request to assign his surname to Charles and Anne. Philip was very worried and joked bitterly, calling himself the only person in the country who could not give his own surname to his own children.
7. Philip and Elizabeth were on the verge of divorce
In the mid-50s, Elizabeth was completely absorbed in state affairs, and Philip suffered because he had to leave his service in the navy. The relationship between the spouses became cool and, perhaps, things were even heading towards divorce - but the Duke unexpectedly found himself involved in charity work. And then Elizabeth became pregnant again - and suddenly allowed her husband to give the newborn, a boy, Andrew, his last name. The royal couple's fourth child, Edward, also took his father's surname. Thus, the couple's eldest children, Charles and Anne, bear the surname Windsor, while the younger ones, Andrew and Edward, bear the surname Mountbatten-Windsor.
In June 2017, Elizabeth II's husband, Prince Philip, turned 96. Buckingham Palace announced that the Duke of Edinburgh had decided to retire and hand over his ceremonial duties.
Until this time, the prince was the fifth busiest member of the royal family and participated in official events up to three hundred days a year. Over his many years of service, the prince has gained a controversial reputation: on the one hand, he is undoubtedly respected for his merits and “by his position.” The Duke's personal biographer Ashley Walton called him "our national treasure". On the other hand, his unusual directness, bordering on rudeness, tactless humor and what the British call gaffe - inappropriate statements, often led to awkward situations and even scandals.
Prince Consort, nicknamed "The Naked Waiter"
The second season of The Crown features a London private gentlemen's club, the Thursday Club, famous for its drinking dinners and stimulating conversations. These same get-togethers are described as “rambunctious stag parties” in Philip Eade’s biographical novel Prince Philip: The Wild Early Life of the Man Who Married Queen Elizabeth II. The prince is said to have earned himself the nickname "the naked waiter" after serving dinner to clubhouse osteopath Stephen Ward. According to rumors, the prince personally served Ward and his guests, wearing only a “small lace apron.”
Death by cricket bat
In 1996, Prince Philip gave an interview to BBC radio. It was about the government's intention to tighten gun control after the mass shooting of staff and students at an elementary school in Dunblane, Scotland (16 people died at the time). The prince expressed doubts about the effectiveness of the measures taken, citing his favorite sport as an example: “If a cricketer suddenly showed up at a school and beat a lot of people to death with a bat (which he could easily do), would you start passing regulations to ban cricket bats? ? Then all government parties unanimously condemned the “rude” and “insensitive” remarks of His Highness.
Deafening music
During a visit to the British Deaf Association in 1999, Prince Philip responded to a performance by a Caribbean percussion ensemble by telling children: “No wonder you're all going deaf from this music!” The Guardian newspaper immediately reported the incident and the children who were "shocked and offended" by the remark. The group leader suggested that the prince would do well to practice his funny sayings, because his remarks did not amuse anyone.
You won't be accepted as an astronaut
During a visit to Manchester in 2001, the Prince was invited to inspect the new NOVA launch vehicle. Philip approached a 13-year-old boy, who was also interested in the rocket, and out of the blue said: “Well, they definitely won’t take you as an astronaut, you’re too fat.” The boy, whose name was Andrew, later shared his feelings about the conversation: “I was very upset by what he said. I was seriously angry. What right does he have to treat people like that? If he’s married to the queen, is he allowed to do anything?”
Who's a drug addict here?
A year later, the prince insulted a 14-year-old Bangladeshi teenager at a youth club in London. In an attempt to establish contact with the young people, he asked jokingly: “Well, which of you here takes drugs?” Pointing to one of the boys, Philip said: “You look like a drug addict!” The boy, for obvious reasons, was not delighted with such words. “He called me a drug addict for no reason whatsoever. Neither I nor my friends liked it. I was very upset. Just because he doesn’t have a lot of money doesn’t mean he can say anything to anyone.”
Made in India
During a visit to an electronics factory in Edinburgh, Prince Philip noted that the wiring on the fuse box looked so flimsy “as if it had been made by Indians.” This statement caused such a loud public and political outcry that Buckingham Palace was forced to apologize in order to smooth the situation: “The Duke of Edinburgh regrets the incident and its consequences. Reevaluating the situation, he fully agrees that the phrase he casually threw out was completely inappropriate.”
Greetings
In 2003, during an official visit to Nigeria, the prince met with the country's President Olusegun Obasanjo. Mistaking his national costume for pajamas, the Duke remarked: “It looks like I’m at the wrong time? You are already ready for bed."
The Chinese are not upset
Perhaps the most shameful incident for Prince Philip occurred in 1986 during a state visit to China. At a meeting with a group of exchange students at the University of Xi'an, the prince said: "If you stay here for a long time, your eyes will turn into narrow slits."
The insults against the Chinese did not end there. The prince later called Beijing a terrible city and spoke negatively about Cantonese eating habits. The Duke was reminded of these remarks during an interview he gave on his 90th birthday. The prince sincerely did not understand why the journalists were inflating the problem. “I forgot about this incident a long time ago! If it weren't for that one reporter who caught a glimpse of my phrase, there would have been no fuss. Besides, the Chinese weren’t particularly upset.”
The Queen loves who she should, not who she wants. This historical axiom was refuted by Elizabeth the Second, having lived in a happy marriage with her husband Philip for 70 years. In a marriage that serves as a model of family relationships, human devotion and feminine wisdom.
At first sight
Princess Lilibet, as her family called her, was distinguished by her perseverance and iron character from childhood. She absolutely loved horses and was an excellent rider. Often the girl declared that she would marry only a horse farmer, because she could not imagine her life without her beloved animals. But later she made a different choice, falling in love with a sailor cadet, which in the opinion of the royal family was little better than a farmer.
They met at a family party. Few people know that Philip is Elizabeth's fourth cousin. Lilibet was then 13 years old, and Philip was 18. Tall and slender, blond, a cadet at the Royal Naval College won the princess's heart at first sight. And, as it turned out, for life. Philip, Prince of Greece and Denmark, was born on the island of Corfu into a royal family that had lost power.
His grandfather was killed in 1913, his uncle was dethroned, and his father, after losing all his regalia, fled Greece with his family in disgrace. Philip's parents later separated. Prince Andrew moved to Monte Carlo, where he continued to squander the remains of the family fortune, and his ex-wife and children settled in Paris, where she soon lost her mind due to all the misfortunes that befell the family. After this sad event, Philip was taken in by his father, sent the boy to a closed school and practically forgot about him.
A few years later, Philip independently reached England, where his relatives sheltered him. The only thing he inherited from his father was a signet ring. Of course, Elizabeth’s parents did not think about such a betrothed for their daughter. But the girl didn’t even want to hear about anyone else. In the first years of the war, Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip, who served in the navy, did not see each other, however, correspondence did not stop.
A photograph of a loved one was firmly established on the bedside table of the future queen. Her parents did not lose hope that a more worthy candidate would match their daughter, but the girl was adamant. Soon, Elizabeth's parents began to realize that their daughter had a truly deep feeling for Philip, and shortly before the wedding, King George VI awarded his future son-in-law the title of Duke of Edinburgh.
Ten years later, Elizabeth, then already queen, will ordain her husband as a prince. Historians of the English royal family say that Elizabeth herself proposed to Philip, just like her great-grandmother, Queen Victoria, once did. There are no fortresses in the world that a real woman cannot conquer! As a result, on November 20, 1947, Philip, having renounced his Greek and Danish titles, converted from Orthodoxy to Anglicanism, accepted British citizenship and took the surname of his maternal grandfather Mountbatten, married Princess Elizabeth.
In the shadow of the crowned wife
The wedding, as expected by tradition, took place in Westminster Abbey. By royal standards it was a modest celebration. While on the bride’s side the entire royal court was present, on the groom’s side there was only the mother, who had long been in a state of prostration. Despite this sad fact, the wedding was bright and very beautiful. The bride's dress was made by court designer Norman Hartnell, inspired by Sandro Botticelli's painting "Spring".
“I discovered a painting by Botticelli in the museum, which depicted a girl in ivory silk flowing along her body, strewn with jasmine flowers, asparagus flowers and rosebuds. I recreated all this flora using crystal beads and pearls,” he recalled. Her mother’s precious tiara shone on Elizabeth’s head, and a five-meter veil was carried by two pages. After the wedding, the couple were inseparable and led a social life.
Soon they had children - Charles and Anna. But in February 1952, when the King of England and Elizabeth's father, George VI, died of a blood clot in the heart, Philip became the first to bend the knee and swear an oath of allegiance to Elizabeth II as queen: “I, Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, become your vassal and humble servant for life; I promise to serve you faithfully and die for you, no matter what happens. May God help me!”.
Philip kept his word, becoming a reliable support for his wife and the best adviser in difficult times. But he turned into the shadow of his queen... In February 1960, the second son of the royal couple, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, was born. Elizabeth, as a sign of her devotion to her husband, named the boy in honor of Philip's father Andrei. After this turn of events, Philip got rid of the “shadow” complex and began to engage in charity work.
The focus of his attention was on issues of education, youth and sports. In public life, Philip always remained one step behind his wife, but in the family he still achieved the right to have the first vote. Sometimes, like many women, the queen enjoys feeling weak and defenseless, and her husband gives her this opportunity.
Grandfather is a rock
For the Queen's 90th birthday, a wonderful film was made about the royal couple. Elizabeth and Philip consider family a life priority. According to her children and grandchildren, the secret of the queen’s family happiness lies in an important decision that she made at one time: if she, as a monarch, leads the country, then Philip will unconditionally lead the family. In all important family matters, the Duke of Edinburgh has the final say.
On this occasion, the granddaughter of Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Princess Eugenie of York, said: “Grandfather is incredible. He is strong and reliable. He was and remains a rock for all of us.” Today, the Queen spends a lot of time at her estate, training horses and dogs. In the evenings, she walks arm in arm with her beloved husband, and does not like it when her and Philip’s privacy is disturbed. Time puts everything in its place, and then you understand that the reward of life is not in the crown at all, but in the quiet feminine happiness of being loved...
BONUS
A great opportunity to visit the British monarchs.