A look back at Prince Philip and the Queen's 73 year marriage
9 April 2021, 15:54 | Updated: 9 April 2021, 16:02
The Queen and Prince Philip were married for over seven decades.
Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh, has sadly passed away at the age of 99.
Buckingham Palace confirmed his death in an official statement released on Friday morning.
“It is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty The Queen has announced the death of her beloved husband, His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh,” the official statement reads.
Let’s take a look back at his 73 year marriage to the Queen…
Philip wed the Queen in 1947, making theirs the longest marriage of any British monarch.
Read More: Prince Philip - a life in pictures
The couple were first introduced when The Queen was just eight years old, at the wedding of Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark in 1934.
Five years later, they met again at the Royal Naval College in Dartmouth where Elizabeth is said to have fallen for her husband.
The couple exchanged letters and, in 1946, Philip asked King George VI for his daughter’s hand in marriage.
They got married at Westminster Abbey on 20 November 1947.
After their marriage, they held a royal residence in Malta from 1949–51, where Prince Philip was stationed in the Royal Navy.
Elizabeth and Philip welcomed eldest son Prince Charles on 14 November 1948.
They went on to have three more children: Princess Anne (15 August 1950), Prince Andrew (19 February 1960) and Prince Edward (10 March 1964).
Elizabeth II became Queen in 1953 at the age of 26 when her father died, and Philip gave up his career in the Royal Navy.
At her coronation on 2 June, Prince Philip became the first to swear allegiance.
25 years later, the couple became grandparents for the first time when Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips welcomed Peter in 1977.
They now have eight grandchildren in total; Prince William of Wales, Prince Harry of Wales, Zara Tindall, Princess Beatrice of York, Princess Eugenie of York, Lady Louise Windsor and James, Viscount Severns.
Their first great-grandchild, Savannah Phillips, was born in 2010 and second great-granddaughter Isla Phillips arrived in 2012.
In 2014, Mia was born to their granddaughter Zara and her husband Mike Tindall, and the couple had Lena Elizabeth Tindall in 2018.
Prince William and Kate Middleton also have three children George, Charlotte and Louis, while Prince Harry and Meghan Markle welcomed baby Archie in May 2019.
Prince Philip retired from official royal duties in 2017 at the age of 96, after completing more than 22,000 solo engagements and traveling to more than 76 countries.
The couple celebrated their 73rd wedding anniversary together in November, 2020.
In honour of the celebration, Buckingham Palace released a photo showing the queen and Philip looking at a card made by their great-grandchildren.
Now Read: Will Prince Philip have a state funeral?
