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The Queen and Prince Philip married in 1947, 74 years ago, making history as the longest marriage of any British sovereign. Back then they were, of course, Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, tying the knot in the rather austere years of post-war Britain. So, what really happened on their wedding day? Here’s what went down on the Big Day itself.
The engagement
The Queen and Prince Philip’s love story began back in 1939. Princess Elizabeth was just 13 years old, her dashing distant cousin, Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, was five years her senior and about to join the Royal Navy. They met as she toured the Royal Naval College at Dartmouth, he was the young officer assigned to escort her around that day.
The newlyweds on the Palace balcony (PA)
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They were the country’s Prince Charming and Fairy Princess and their wedding captured the public imagination in the austere post-war days.
Winston Churchill summed up the occasion as “a flash of colour on the hard road we travel”.
The marriage of Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten and Princess Elizabeth at Westminster Abbey on November 20 1947 provided something of a morale boost.
Prince Philip wooed Queen Elizabeth by jumping over nets on a Devon tennis court
Apparently Philip - who died today at the age of 99 - impressed young Elizabeth by leaping over tennis nets. I thought he showed off a good deal, Elizabeth s governess later commented
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