Visiting with her parents and sister, Princess Margaret, 13-year-old Elizabeth was reportedly smitten with 18-year-old Philip and impressed by how easily he could jump over tennis nets. 1939: The two meet again, and soon strike up a friendship.Įlizabeth and Philip's fateful re-meeting occurred at the Royal Naval College in 1939, where the latter was a cadet. In fact, nearly all of Europe's royal families are related through sharing a common ancestor. In the context of Europe's royal families, this actually isn't so strange, given how much intermarriage there used to be among royal lines to maintain political alliances. Universal History Archive // Getty Images (Edward abdicated in 1936 to marry American socialite Wallis Simpson.)Īnd yes, the people who'd become Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip are related- they're distant cousins, and both great-great-grandchildren of Queen Victoria. At the time, Princess Elizabeth wasn't expected to become queen: Her father's older brother Edward was first in the line of succession, and it was assumed he'd have children whose birth would move her further from the throne. Here, we look back at their royal romance.ġ934: Elizabeth and Philip first meet at a wedding.Įlizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor was 8 years old when she first met Philip Mountbatten at the wedding of his cousin, Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark, to Elizabeth's uncle, Prince George, Duke of Kent. “I owe him a debt greater than he would ever claim.” The queen and Philip had the longest royal marriage in history, and on their golden wedding anniversary in 1997, she offered a glimpse into their relationship: “He has quite simply been my strength and stay all these years,” she said.
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