who died in 2022 at age 96<\/a>.<\/p>\n\u201cThirteen-year-old Princess Elizabeth fell head over heels with 18-year-old Philip on that crucial fine weekend of July 1939,\u201d she explained. \u201cShe was so amazed by the handsome, athletic Philip. A smitten Elizabeth kept a photograph of Philip in her bedroom.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDespite Princess Elizabeth\u2019s heart set on Philip, her parents thought he was a brash, totally unsuitable match,\u201d said Chard. \u201cThey discussed other potential suitors from high-society circles. One of these high-ranking British nobles was the Earl of Euston. But after his marriage to Fortune, she became a close friend and confidante to Elizabeth, serving the royal household for 69 years, even accompanying the queen on overseas tours.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cElizabeth steadfastly refused to look at anyone else. If anyone was a possible match, it was Lord Porchester, nicknamed \u201cPorchie.\u201d At least he had a passion for horse racing. However, their relationship was platonic.\u201d<\/p>\nPrincess Elizabeth, and The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh at Buckingham Palace after their wedding on November 20, 1947. Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nThe future queen and Philip would go on to develop a romantic relationship, though it was largely conducted through letters and occasional meetings. During World War II, Philip served in the Royal Navy, and the pair reportedly exchanged letters. By the mid-1940s, their relationship had become more serious.<\/p>\n
Philip would visit the royal family when he was on leave. The then-princess remained committed to him despite concerns within royal circles about his finances, foreign background and family connections.<\/p>\n
\u201cDetermined, Princess Elizabeth eventually convinced her father to allow her to marry Philip after a royal tour of South Africa,\u201d said Chard. \u201cKing George VI realized that \u2018distance made the heart grow fonder.\u2019 Princess Elizabeth, now 21, didn\u2019t forget about Philip. She missed him more.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe king was not enamored with Philip, who he saw as a rather brash young man,\u201d royal broadcaster Ian Pelham Turner told Fox News Digital.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut Elizabeth became infatuated with the dashing young blond. She kept a photograph of Philip, wearing a beard, in her boudoir without her parents\u2019 permission. When it was obvious that Elizabeth was in love with Philip, the king took Elizabeth and her sister Margaret on a royal trip as a cooling-off period, to no avail. His daughter had made up her mind.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPrincess Elizabeth\u2019s parents eventually gave their full blessing,\u201d said Chard. \u201cTheir engagement was officially announced in July 1947, and their relationship of choice, not arrangement, was a huge success. Let\u2019s face it, Philip was the most handsome of them all!\u201d<\/p>\nBritish Royals attend the Christmas Day service at St Mary Magdalene Church on the Sandringham Estate in Sandringham, Norfolk, England, 25th December 1994. Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nElizabeth and Philip married on Nov. 20, 1947. Then in 1952, the king died of cancer at age 56. Philip gave up his naval career before pledging to become the queen\u2019s \u201cliege man of life and limb, and of earthly worship,\u201d The Associated Press reported.<\/p>\n
Philip spent more than seven decades supporting his wife. Before he died in 2021 at age 99, he fulfilled more than 20,000 royal engagements to boost British interests at home and abroad. He headed hundreds of charities, founded programs that helped British schoolchildren participate in outdoor adventures and played a prominent part in raising his four children.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat many now don\u2019t know or realize is that Prince Philip initially wasn\u2019t viewed as appropriate by many, particularly courtiers, who found him too foreign, too rough-edged, too ambitious and insufficiently English,\u201d said British royals expert Hilary Fordwich.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a testament of the queen\u2019s deep feelings for him that she wouldn\u2019t be dissuaded from him despite considerable pressure from all sides. Their relationship was based on genuine love and mutual appreciation, rather unusual for royal marriages.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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