70th anniversary Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip
He accepted living in her shadow. She forgave his periodic gaffes.
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip will celebrate their platinum wedding anniversary on November 20, marking 70 years since they married in the splendor of Westminster Abbey Despite three of their four children (Charles, Anne and Andrew) having divorced, this royal union has endured through the decades without any public hint of marital strife. Now, they join a small club of couples who have spent seven decades together. No events are planned to celebrate their landmark, but the bells of Westminster Abbey will ring at 1300 GMT in tribute.
Elizabeth and Philip will spend the day with other members of the royal family, a Buckingham Palace spokesman told AFP. After 70 years of marriage it’s a burgeoning clan, with four children, eight grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. They expect to welcome a sixth great-grandchild in April, when Prince William and wife Kate Middleton’s third child is due.
The 96-year-old Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, retired from the public eye this summer, enjoying his newfound free time reading and painting. For her part the Queen, at 91, is slowly passing over some of her official duties to her son Prince Charles, now aged 69. – Meeting at 13 years-old – It was a version of love at first sight.
Elizabeth was aged just 13 when she first laid eyes on her future husband Philip, then a dashing 18-year-old blond army officer. The pair may have met in their teens, but it would be eight years until the nation celebrated with pomp their fairy-tale wedding at Westminster’s famous abbey on November 20, 1947. The princess dazzled, dressed in a satin dress embroidered with roses and decorated with 10,000 pearls and sparkling crystals.
In this post-war period, it was “a flash of color on the difficult road we’re taking,” said Winston Churchill, leader of a Conservative Party then in opposition. Fresh memories of the war and fears of anti-German sentiment meant several of Prince Philip’s German relatives — including his three surviving sisters — were not invited to the ceremony. Prior to the wedding, the Queen Mother asked her future son-in-law if he would cherish her daughter. Source: AFP
