When Elizabeth of York first encountered Prince Philip, she was not meant to be queen. She was seven years outdated and bridesmaid to her aunt, Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark, as she married the Duke of Kent at Westminster Abbey, whereas 12-year-old Philip was attending because the bride’s first cousin. The youngsters barely spoke — however the international newspapers had already listed Prince Philip as a suitably royal husband for the little Princess, as her third cousin by means of Queen Victoria.
When they met once more, 5 years later, in 1939, every thing had modified. Elizabeth’s uncle, Edward VIII, had abdicated three years earlier. Her father was now King and she was the inheritor to the throne. Philip was an 18-year-old naval cadet. And Europe was getting ready to cataclysmic battle and change as World War II was about to start.
“How high he can jump!” Elizabeth mentioned to her governess, Marion Crawford, in July 1939 when she noticed Philip leaping over tennis nets on the Royal Naval College in Dartmouth. Elizabeth had led a really sheltered life together with her household, spending most of her time together with her sister and governess. Touring the school together with her dad and mom and sister, she was dazzled by the star cadet, who would quickly be off on energetic service. Elizabeth’s fascination was apparent to all and was most gratifying to Philip’s uncle, Dickie Mountbatten, who was hopeful of encouraging a wedding — with himself as the facility behind the throne.
When the royal get together left Dartmouth on the Royal Yacht, all of the cadets adopted behind of their little boats — till the King instructed them to return to shore. They all did as they have been advised, other than Philip, who carried on rowing with all his would possibly as Elizabeth watched him by means of binoculars.
Philip and his household had fled Greece when he was a child. The household arrange in Paris, however disintegrated. His mom was put in an asylum and his father took mistresses. Philip was despatched to boarding faculties and flourished at Gordonstoun in Scotland earlier than going to Dartmouth. With no parenting to talk of, he had been very near his sisters, however his favourite, Cecile, died in a airplane crash when she was eight months pregnant. The others have been married to German officers — putting Philip and his household on reverse sides within the struggle.
During the struggle, Philip wrote to Elizabeth and got here to remain for Christmas in 1943. Elizabeth was 17 and a younger lady. Philip discovered her very interesting. She was not solely enticing and witty, however she was cheerful and sensible, very in contrast to his personal fragile mom.
At the tip of the struggle, Philip got here to court docket Elizabeth with critical intent and took her out to concert events and eating places or dined within the nursery with Princess Margaret. The Palace was doubtful in regards to the match. The King and Queen wished her to “see more of the world” earlier than marrying, and courtiers mentioned how Philip was “no gentleman,” “ill tempered” and probably fickle — he signed guests’ books as of “no fixed abode.” Everyone mistrusted his machinating uncle, Dickie Mountbatten. The authorities was obsessed together with his background: as one courtier mentioned “it was all bound up in a single word, ‘German.’”
Elizabeth refused to be swayed. She had been decided on Philip because the age of 13 and struggle had solely intensified the romance. The King gave in and the engagement was introduced on July 8, 1947, with the marriage date fastened for November 20. Philip grew to become a naturalized British topic, adopted the surname Mountbatten from his maternal grandparents and was created Duke of Edinburgh.
There was concern {that a} nation deep in post-war recession would possibly take a dim view of a lavish wedding ceremony. But Winston Churchill selected grandeur, calling it “a flash of colour on the hard road we have to travel.” Royal visitors got here from all around the world to see the princess marry in a silk gown embroidered with 10,000 pearls. Among these firmly not invited have been Philip’s three sisters with their German husbands, and the Duke of Windsor, the previous Edward VIII, and his spouse, Wallis Simpson.
On the day at Westminster Abbey, Princess Elizabeth made her vows and promised to obey her husband, one thing that might be technically inconceivable when she was Queen.
And but the battles have been simply starting. Philip was used to an energetic life and chafed on the Admiralty desk job that he was given. The couple’s first two youngsters, Charles and Anne, have been born in 1948 and 1950 and the household settled at Clarence House, the place Philip took cost of the renovations. Philip was stationed at Malta and Elizabeth came over him for durations of months at a time. There, Elizabeth was free to be merely an officer’s spouse, away from the highlight.
In early 1952, Elizabeth and Philip embarked upon a tour of Kenya. They started with a retreat at “Treetops,” a lodge over a watering gap within the Aberdare National Park. On the evening of February 9, 1952, George VI died in his sleep. After the information reached the royal employees, Philip advised his spouse that her beloved father had died and they returned to London.
The dying of the King was a horrible shock for each Elizabeth and Philip. The King had been unwell for years, regardless of nonetheless being a comparatively younger man at 56. Elizabeth and Philip had anticipated a few years extra of relative freedom. Now Philip was husband to the Queen and every thing modified.
The household needed to transfer from Clarence House to the much less intimate Buckingham Palace. Philip had to surrender his naval function. And Elizabeth’s grandmother, Queen Mary, set in regards to the royal surname.
Philip had believed that his spouse’s surname was his personal, Mountbatten — and his uncle Dickie had made unwise boasts in regards to the Royal House of Mountbatten. But Winston Churchill and Queen Mary have been decided: the identify should stay as Windsor. Philip was heartbroken: “I am nothing but a bloody amoeba.”
By the time their youthful youngsters have been born — Andrew in 1960 and Edward in 1964 — the Queen had issued an order that any male descendants not titled Prince or Royal Highness have been to be “Mountbatten-Windsor.” It was a small victory.
Philip suffered prejudice towards his efforts to carve out a higher function for himself. There was resistance to him chairing Elizabeth’s Coronation Commission and his efforts to create a system of awards for service, The Duke of Edinburgh Awards, have been met by one minister with surprising ridicule, saying that it sounded “like the Hitler Youth.”
However, with endurance, onerous work and his continuous dedication to helping and supporting the Queen in her duties, Prince Philip gained the respect and affection of presidency and the folks alike.
Philip had a eager curiosity in expertise and was the primary royal to be interviewed on tv, when he mentioned youth apprenticeships on BBC Panorama with Richard Dimbleby in 1961. Philip was additionally concerned in “Royal Family,” a documentary aired in 1969 which captivated the nation when it confirmed the household at residence — together with photographs of Philip barbecuing sausages.
Philip was patron to greater than 800 organizations and, very similar to his grandsons, was notably involved with wildlife and the surroundings: he was president of the World Wildlife Fund from 1961 to 1982.
The Duke was notably keen on the youthful royals and might be most poignantly remembered by many for supporting his grandsons, William and Harry, as they walked by means of the streets of London behind the coffin of their mom, Diana, Princess of Wales, earlier than her funeral in September 1997.
The monarchy’s recognition hit a low level after the dying of Diana, however by the point of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in 2012, the British public’s enthusiasm for the royal household was clear from the celebrations all around the nation.
Through the ups and downs, the Duke was the Queen’s steadfast companion. She is the longest married monarch and the Duke was the world’s longest serving present consort. At 99, he has lived for longer than some other descendant of Queen Victoria.
An energetic, clever man, it was not at all times simple to stroll one step behind the Queen. But, as Prince William mentioned, “he totally put his personal career aside to support her, and he never takes the limelight.”
The Duke rose to the problem with grace and dignity and by no means left the Queen’s facet, seeing his nice function as helping her. As the Queen mentioned in her Diamond Jubilee speech in 2012, he has been her “constant strength and guide.”