It is a love story for the ages.
To be the best Queen she could be, Elizabeth II needed a consort that gave her the support, the backing, the encouragement at home to go forth and reign. And she found that in the love of her life, Prince Philip, who she married 72 years ago today on November 20, 1947.
Elizabeth saw her beloved for the first time when she was just a little girl and fell in love with him at first sight when they reconnected in 1939, when she was just 13 and he 18. They exchanged letters for years, and in the summer of 1946, when Elizabeth was 20 and Philip 25, he asked for her hand in marriage. Elizabeth’s father, King George VI, asked for a formal engagement to be delayed until Elizabeth’s twenty-first birthday in April 1947. They married that November.
There have been many marriages in the Royal Family that were not love matches – this is not one of them. Philip loves Elizabeth, and Elizabeth adores Philip and has since she was 13 years old. He is her rock, her sounding board, her compass, her best friend, the one who understands her best – and she is a tough one to crack. He was there when her father died unexpectedly and she became Queen far sooner than she thought she would. He has walked, devotedly, behind her since. They are a love story worth telling, and to reach 72 years of, while imperfect, happy marriage is a feat not to be scoffed at.
Happy anniversary to our Queen and her prince. To many more!