Elizabeth and Philip, a royal love story told in 11 parts

Each wedding has its own customs, curiosities and habits. And that of Elizabeth II, Queen of England, with her consort, Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, is no exception to the rule. This story, which spanned more than seven decades, even had some fairytale elements. But of course, like any relationship between two, Elizabeth and Philip’s life had its ups and downs. And they managed to handle even the most difficult situations.

O awesome.club made a compilation of some fun facts about this beautiful relationship between the British queen and her Greek prince.

Just as the union of Prince Charles with Diana went through a moment of family disapproval, the courtship between Elizabeth II and Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, had to be kept secret, due to fears regarding the feelings of the queen’s father.

This happened because he considered the Greek prince too mature for his daughter and Elizabeth too young for a serious relationship. However, she decided to marry the love of her life, with whom she later started a beautiful family.

According to Elizabeth and Margaret’s housekeeper, the eldest of the sisters fell in love with Philip when they were both young: he, an 18-year-old, and she, a 13-year-old girl.

Philip accompanied the princesses on a tour of the Royal Navy Academy and Elizabeth was impressed by the boy’s every action, from eating an incredible amount of shrimp to playing in the net on the tennis court. The future Queen of England saw everything rosy when it came to her crush’s actions.

While it’s not uncommon to buy a wedding dress on credit, Britain’s economic situation at the time of the wedding prompted the Crown to use a more unusual method of payment: ration coupons. In order to be able to pay for the materials for Elizabeth’s precious dress, which had an embroidered veil measuring almost 4 meters, 200 of these coupons were used.

European families share ancestors. An example of this were Elizabeth and Philip, who, being of completely different nationalities (she British and he Greek/Danish), were descendants of Queen Victoria.

While Elizabeth lived as a princess and future queen of her Nation, being strictly trained as an heir to the throne, Philip, although a member of the aristocracy, had a more ordinary childhood and adolescence.

While many have witnessed Elizabeth’s love at first sight for Philip, romantics of the younger generation may be surprised to find that there are almost no photos of the couple holding hands.

Traditionally, British couples of Elizabeth and Philip’s generation tended to be reserved about their affection, sharing moments like these only in the privacy of their homes and keeping an appropriate distance from each other in public. However, there are decades of photos of lively conversations, smiles and even blankets shared by this beautiful couple!

Regarding his career, Philip aspired to have a military rank. He even walked in that direction, until, unfortunately, his father-in-law, King George VI, passed away.

This hastened Elizabeth’s coronation and led Philip to abandon his military career to serve as the Queen’s consort, a position that was often restrictive and uncomfortable. However, in his own words, he always looked for the positive side of the situation.

Elizabeth’s union with Philip required many changes before it was accepted. Some of them called for him to relinquish his titles of nobility in Greece and accept British nationalisation. For this reason, Philip lost his princely title. But King George VI made up for it with the titles of Duke of Edinburgh, Earl of Merioneth and Baron of Greenwich.

The princesses’ visit to Philip’s University took place precisely at the moment when there was an outbreak of chicken pox in the dormitories, the route of which was altered.

King Edward VIII’s aide-de-camp (Elizabeth’s uncle and king for less than a year), Count Louis Mountbatten, Philip’s uncle, seems to have taken advantage of the situation by proposing to his nephew that he accompany the princesses, starting a relationship would last more than 70 years.

Although he was part of the Greek aristocracy, Philip went through very difficult situations. He had to be exiled from Greece when he was just a baby and didn’t have access to his family’s fortune (or wealth equivalent to that of the British monarchy), so he grew up as a typical citizen.

Finding true love in the heiress to the throne, who fell in love with him at first sight and defied her father’s wishes to marry him in a spectacular wedding, sounds pretty familiar, doesn’t it?

The fact that Elizabeth sees him as Prince Charming, just like in Cinderella, a traditional Christmas play in Great Britain, adds an almost magical touch to the story.

Like many other teenage girls, talking to the boy of your dreams can be daunting. Philip remembered with nostalgia that Elizabeth felt that way. She was shy and silent in front of the heartthrob prince, and he mentioned it once, when they talked about their first meeting: “You were very quiet, I couldn’t get a word out of you”.

Fortunately, after that, the two began to exchange letters, which helped the princess to express herself without suffering from her nervousness.

Clarence House was Elizabeth and Philip’s temporary home before they moved to Buckingham, and a British upper-class strategy for ensuring a healthy and harmonious relationship has always been to have a separate room for each of you. This measure, as explained in an interview with Vanity Fair, it helped everyone feel like they had their own personal space.

This trick helps many couples in their relationship, although it might not be something one would expect from Britain’s famous love story.

What we can learn from this 70-year marriage, which started out like a fairy tale, is that when you commit to someone from your heart, you can not only start a beautiful family, but overcome almost any adversity. What family tradition exists in your home that could impact your future partner?