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On Nov. 20, 1947, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip tied the knot, marking the start of what would turn into the longest royal marriage in historical past. Spanning the whole lot of the late monarch’s 70-year reign after which some, the couple’s union was one constructed on love and acceptance.
“I feel the primary lesson now we have realized is that tolerance is the one important ingredient in any joyful marriage,” Prince Philip, who died in April 2021, mentioned in a tribute for the couple’s fiftieth anniversary. “You possibly can take it from me, the Queen has the standard of tolerance in abundance.”
The pair first met on the 1934 wedding ceremony of Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark to Prince George, when Elizabeth was simply 8 years outdated and Philip was 13. It wasn’t till years later, nevertheless, when the princess visited Dartmouth Naval Faculty along with her mother and father as a youngster and frolicked with the younger cadet that she developed emotions for her would-be suitor. “She fell in love, and she or he by no means checked out anybody else,” biographer Sally Bedell Smith instructed PEOPLE in 2021.
Because the Queen, who handed away on Sept. 8, 2022, wrote in since-auctioned letters to Royal Marriage ceremony writer Betty Shew, “I used to be 13 years of age and he was 18 and a cadet simply because of go away. He joined the Navy on the outbreak of battle, and I solely noticed him very sometimes when he was on go away — I suppose about twice in three years.”
Nonetheless, they stored in contact, and by June 1947, the couple introduced their engagement. Philip proposed with a platinum ring he had created at Philip Antrobus Ltd. (now Pragnell) utilizing diamonds from a tiara the prince was given by his mom, Princess Alice of Battenburg.
Naturally, the long run Queen mentioned sure. “Prince Philip is the one man on this planet who treats the Queen merely as one other human being,” her former personal secretary, Lord Charteris, as soon as mentioned. “He is the one man who can. Unusual as it might appear, I consider she values that.”
5 months later, the twosome wed at Westminster Abbey. The ceremony got here on the heels of World Conflict II, forcing some restrictions (the princess’s wedding ceremony robe, as an example, was bought with rationing coupons). Nonetheless, it proved to be an epic occasion that was celebrated by hundreds the world over.
Beneath, learn each element of the couple’s nuptials, from their 900-pound cake that was minimize with a sword to the ten,000 notes of congratulations they acquired in its aftermath.
The Date
Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip wed on Nov. 20, 1947, at 11:30 a.m. GST.
The Pre-Marriage ceremony Celebration
Two days earlier than the ceremony, the younger couple was celebrated with a ball at Buckingham Palace that may later reportedly be described as a “sensational night,” for which “everybody appeared shiny and joyful” — significantly the friends of honor, who appeared “radiant.”
The Venue
The younger royal grew to become the tenth member of the British monarchy to be married at Westminster Abbey — the identical place the place her father, King George VI, was topped simply 11 years earlier and the place Queen Elizabeth herself could be coronated 5 years after her nuptials. (The monarch’s funeral will probably be held on the church on September 19.)
The architectural murals, which was largely rebuilt in a gothic fashion within the thirteenth century by King Henry III, was additionally the setting for Prince William and Kate Middleton‘s wedding ceremony in 2011.
Based by Benedictine monks in 960 A.D., the Abbey grew to become a coronation church in 1066 when William the Conqueror ascended the throne. It serves as the ultimate resting place of 17 monarchs.
The Title
Simply forward of the pair’s nuptials, Prince Philip acquired new titles, changing into the Duke of Edinburgh, Earl of Merioneth and Baron Greenwich of Greenwich.
The Company
Although Elizabeth’s father, King George VI, was reportedly warned to maintain the princess’s wedding ceremony ceremony “easy” within the wake of the battle, the visitor record was removed from small, with a reported 2,000 folks on the record.
Amongst them had been 5 kings, 5 queens and eight princes and princesses, together with King Michael of Romania, King Haakon VII of Norway, King Faisal of Iraq, King Frederik IX and Queen Ingrid of Denmark, Princess Juliana and Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands, Prince Philip‘s uncle, Earl Louis Mountbatten and the Hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg and Princess Elisabeth of Luxembourg.
The Transportation
The princess rode along with her father within the Irish State Coach to her wedding ceremony venue with the British Life Guards regiment as their escorts. In response to the Royal Assortment Belief, it was the primary time the regiment had worn its “full-dress” uniforms since 1939.
On the best way again, the bride rode along with her new husband within the Glass Coach that was bought for King George VI’s coronation in 1911.
The Gown
Elizabeth selected a marriage robe design that was submitted by British designer Norman Hartnell simply three months earlier than the marriage. It took him and his crew of roughly 350 seamstresses simply seven weeks to create the piece, which was paid for partially by rationing coupons. In response to the groom’s cousin, Woman Pamela Hicks, girls had been even sending their very own clothes coupons to Buckingham Palace to assist, although they had been finally returned. “It confirmed how folks wished to be concerned,” she instructed PEOPLE in 2020.
The robe, which was fabricated from Duchesse satin from Scotland and silk, turned out to be beautiful, with a 15-foot silk tulle practice that connected on the shoulders and a bodice encrusted with 10,000 seed pearl and diamanté crystals which fashioned flowers, roses, jasmine blossoms and ears of wheat. Hartnell was reportedly impressed by the Botticelli portray “Primavera” — a logo of the approaching of spring — and later referred to the robe because the “most lovely costume” he’d ever made.
Seamstress Betty Foster instructed The Telegraph in 2007 that Elizabeth did not attempt it on earlier than her wedding ceremony day as she was “respecting the custom that it will be unfortunate.”
The Tiara
Queen Elizabeth‘s most notable piece of knickknack on her big day was the Queen Mary Fringe Tiara she wore atop her head — her “one thing borrowed” from her grandmother, Mary of Teck. As soon as a fringe necklace, Mary had it recreated as a tiara in 1893, and on Elizabeth’s wedding ceremony day, it seemingly snapped. “The catch, which I did not know existed, it immediately went,” the Queen later defined. “And I did not comprehend it was a necklace, you see … I assumed I would damaged it … We caught all of it collectively once more, however I used to be somewhat alarmed.”
A jeweler at Garrard was in a position to restore it in report time, nevertheless, sending it again to the princess by police escort simply in time for her nuptials. “Along with her bridal costume and tiara on her wedding ceremony day, she was a knockout,” Woman Pamela Hicks instructed PEOPLE. “And, in fact, Philip was each woman’s dream Viking prince.”
She added: “[Elizabeth] actually was radiant, along with her diamond tiara on prime. And he or she was very a lot in love.”
The Footwear
To enhance her attractive costume, the princess wore a pair of ivory Duchesse satin heels by Edward Rayne. The silver buckle was studded with silver seed pearl detailing that matched her costume.
The Jewellery
Along with her borrowed tiara, Elizabeth wore two pearl necklaces for her massive day — the Queen Anne necklace and the Queen Caroline necklace, after King George II’s spouse. The princess acquired each baubles as a marriage current from her father, King George VI, who inherited them as a part of the royal assortment.
In response to Queen and Consort: Elizabeth and Philip: 60 Years of Marriage, the princess narrowly averted one other mishap when the necklaces by accident received left behind at St. James Palace, the place the couple’s different wedding ceremony items had been displayed. It wanted to be retrieved by Elizabeth’s newly appointed personal secretary, Jock Colville, who needed to struggle via the crowds at each St. James and Buckingham Palace to get them to her in time for her vows.
The Flowers
In her palms, the princess carried an association crafted by florist Martin Longman of Fenchurch Avenue, created with flowers from the Worshipful Firm of Gardeners. Longman stored the design, which featured white orchids and a sprig of myrtle (a convention that began with Queen Victoria, who acquired it from Prince Albert’s grandmother) a secret till the ceremony.
Although the bridal occasion thought it misplaced for a time (a mishap that brought about the royals to do a reshoot of their wedding ceremony portraits), it was finally situated in an icebox, the place a footman had positioned them to protect them, in keeping with Queen Consort: Elizabeth and Philip: 60 Years of Marriage.
“In the course of their honeymoon they needed to dress up once more of their wedding ceremony garments and my father had to offer one other bouquet for these photographs,” David Longman later revealed within the ITV documentary, Invitation to the Royal Marriage ceremony.
The couple’s wedding ceremony favors, in the meantime, had been made up of particular person posies of myrtle and white Balmoral heather.
The morning after the ceremony, Elizabeth’s bouquet was despatched to lie on the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior, a convention that began with Elizabeth’s mom, Elizabeth I, who did so on her personal wedding ceremony day in 1923. The gesture was in honor of her brother Fergus Bowes-Lyon, who had misplaced his life eight years prior throughout World Conflict I.
The Marriage ceremony Occasion
Princess Elizabeth was joined by eight bridesmaids, together with her sister, Princess Margaret, her first cousins, Princess Alexandra of Kent and Margaret Elpinstone, her second cousin, Woman Mary Cambridge, Woman Caroline Montagu-Douglas-Scott, Philip’s cousin, Pamela Mountbatten and her niece, Diana Bowes-Lyon. Each wore a robe by Hartnell of tulle with small satin flowers — the reverse of Elizabeth’s personal Hartnell creation. As Mountbatten (later often called Woman Pamela Hicks) instructed PEOPLE in 2020, “Tulle might simply be acquired, whereas duchess satin was so troublesome to get in these days.”
In response to Lynne Bell’s 2007 e-book, Queen and Consort: Elizabeth and Philp: 60 Years of Marriage, Prince Philip designed gold compacts engraved in jewels along with his and Elizabeth’s initials for the occasion. As for the groom, he had his personal first cousin, David Mountbatten, by his facet as greatest man. Serving as web page boys had been Prince William of Gloucester and Prince Michael of Kent.
The Marriage ceremony Ring
In the course of the ceremony, Princess Elizabeth acquired a marriage ring comprised of the identical Welsh gold as her mom’s ring. Within the 2020 e-book, Prince Philip: Revealed, writer Ingrid Seward claimed that it was engraved with a secret message that solely the bride, the groom and the engraver knew.
The Service
The royal couple was wed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Geoffrey Fisher, and the Archbishop of York, Cyril Garbett, who “urged upon the younger couple persistence, a prepared sympathy and forbearance.”
Music, in the meantime, was supplied by William Neil McKie, who directed a gaggle of 91 singers made up of members of the Abbey choir, the Chapel Royal choir and the St. George’s Chapel choir.
Collectively, they sang a sequence of hymns, together with “Reward, my soul, the king of heaven” and “The Lord’s my shepherd,” in addition to a “vocal musical composition” McKie composed for the event. In response to the British royal household’s official web site, Elizabeth and Philip’s wedding ceremony anthem was “Blessed be the God and Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ” by Samuel Sebastian Wesley. They left the Abbey to Felix Mendelssohn’s “Marriage ceremony March.”
The Breakfast
Following the ceremony, the newlyweds headed again to Buckingham Palace within the glass coach. As soon as there, they famously waved to the gang of roughly 100,000 gathered exterior from the balcony earlier than heading inside to the Ball Supper Room, the place they loved a extra intimate wedding ceremony breakfast for simply 146 friends.
Amongst them, in keeping with the Royal Assortment Belief, had been members of the royal households from Greece, Denmark, Iraq, Norway, Roumania, Spain, Yugoslavia and Sweden.
The Meals
Former royal chef Darren McGrady shared the menu for the couple’s wedding ceremony breakfast on Twitter forward of their platinum wedding ceremony anniversary in 2017. To begin, Filet de Sole Mountbatten (a nod to Prince Philip‘s surname), adopted by “perdreau en casserole (partridges in a casserole), with inexperienced beans, noisette potatoes and royal salad. In response to McGrady, the partridges had been chosen as they had been not topic to rationing like different meals on the time.
For dessert, friends had been handled to Bombe Glacee Princesse Elizabeth — an ice cream dish made with contemporary strawberries. In response to McGrady, the out-of-season fruit was meant to be a luxurious and was grown in scorching homes at Windsor Fort.
The Cake
The newlyweds served a whopping 11 truffles at their breakfast, despite the fact that their most important cake was a lot big: Created by McVitie & Value, the 9-foot-tall masterpiece boasted 4 tiers and weighed 900 kilos, in keeping with the Royal Assortment Belief. Nicknamed the ten,000-mile cake for its substances, which had been internationally sourced, it was so massive that it was truly minimize with the groom’s personal naval sword, which had been a gift from King George VI.
Extra than simply being massive, the fruity concoction was extremely intricate, that includes decorations of the coat of arms for each Elizabeth and Philip’s households, the bride and groom’s monograms, naval badges and sugar icing figures showcasing their favourite actions. Learn a 1947 press launch acquired by Hi there! Journal: “Every bit of sugar work was made individually after which fitted into its place on the cake.”
The underside tier, in the meantime, featured a silver coin, a thimble, a bell, a button, a boot and a horseshoe, all of which had been meant to provide the newlyweds good luck.
The couple’s leftovers had been put to good use and distributed all through the dominion to hospitals, colleges and charitable establishments.
The Exit
Because the couple was leaving for his or her honeymoon at Birkhall on the Balmoral Property in Scotland in an open-drawn carriage, they had been showered with rose petals by the Queen Mom. The princess, who had turned into a mist blue coat costume Norman Hartnell, additionally had her corgi Susan on her lap, peeking out from below a rug.
The Presents
From her mother and father, Elizabeth not solely acquired the 2 pearl necklaces she wore round her neck, but additionally a sapphire-and-diamond necklace and earring set and a pair of diamond Cartier earrings, in keeping with Bell’s Queen Consort: Elizabeth and Philip: 60 Years of Marriage.
The princess’s grandmother, Queen Mary, gifted her with much more jewels, together with an vintage diamond stomacher, diamond Indian bangle brooches and a pair of ruby earrings Mary had acquired from Elizabeth’s father for her 59th birthday. She additionally gave the couple a bookcase.
Royal dignitaries gave the brand new bride and her groom rubies, a 54.5-carat uncut pink diamond (this from Canada’s John T. Williamson), emeralds and diamonds, in addition to a racehorse, a Kenyan looking lodge, a TV, a mink coat, a Singer stitching machine, a fridge and maple furnishings for the couple’s residence. President Truman reportedly despatched a Steuben crystal bowl engraved with a merry-go-round, and Mahatma Gandhi despatched a chunk of cotton lace that he himself had reportedly spun with the phrases “Jai Hind,” which interprets to “Victory for India.”
The younger couple was additionally showered with a reported 10,000 notes of congratulations and greater than 2,500 presents, together with 386 pairs of stockings (then in brief provide), from their topics.
The bride’s largest present of all, nevertheless, simply might have come from the groom. Not solely did he current her with a brooch within the form of a Royal Navy badge with extra diamonds from his mom’s tiara and a diamond bracelet he himself had designed, however he additionally promised his new spouse that he would stop smoking — a behavior she reportedly detested — and stored his phrase.
The Affect
The royal couple’s ceremony was heard by roughly 200 million folks worldwide on BBC Radio. Although it was not televised, cinemas across the nation additionally confirmed a movie of their nuptials.
Following the occasion, greater than 200,000 individuals are estimated to have made the trek to St James’s Palace, the place Elizabeth and Philip’s wedding ceremony items had been positioned on show. The princess’s Norman Harnell robe, in the meantime, went on to tour the nation.