Day 76 - Liz and Phil's Anniversary

Official Platinum Anniversary Portrait

Seventy years ago on this day, Princess Elizabeth Alexandra Mary  and Philip, formerly known as Prince of Greece and Denmark, were wed at Westminster Abbey.

Today's post is meant to be a celebration of this significant platinum wedding anniversary.

Engagement Announcement

On the day they married, Elizabeth was 21 and Philip was 26. They had met 8 years earlier, but given her age it was only a friendship at first, although it was reported that she had "fallen" for him from the very beginning. That year was 1939, and the war was about to break open. Philip spent the war years in the Royal Navy. He was invited to spend time at Windsor Castle with Elizabeth's family in 1943, and the rumours spread. The couple were secretly engaged in 1946, perhaps because public sentiment about the rumoured marriage was not that positive among the British people as  Philip was not seen as being English and the war had just finished with the Germans. Philip's family name was actually of German origin "Battenberg" which had been anglicized to Mountbatten years before. However, a publicity campaign spearheaded by Philip's Uncle, Lord Mountbatten and Viceroy of India (who years later would be murdered by the Irish Republican Army when they bombed his boat with him on board) and the Palace. Eventually, public opinion was swayed and the wedding was a huge success with over 200 million people worldwide listening in on the event over the radio.

So on this day, 70 years later, here are 10 trivial observations you may have not known about their relationship (Thanks to Popsugar.celebrity):

1. Yes, they are related, second cousins once removed.
2. Her parents were disappointed that she was going to marry the first man she met.
3. Because of his German family connections, the Queen Mother called him "the Hun"
4. He had to convert from Greek Orthodoxy to Anglican.
5. His three sisters who had married German princes were not invited.
6. She took his name after the wedding (remember she was not Queen yet) so became Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh.
7. They worked quickly to have children; Prince Charles was born in the first year of their marriage.
8. Philip had little to no money of his own when they got married.
9. They actually first met was when she was 8.
10. He renounced his titles as Prince of Denmark and Greece prior to getting married.

God Save the Queen!

Ale of the Day: Royal Ale, Partizan Brewery, South Bermondsey, London