Being married for over 7 decades is a major achievement especially when the marriage has always been in the spotlight.
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip have been together for more than 73 years, making theirs the longest marriage in the history of the sovereign.
Irrespective of the fact that they’ve been with each other for so long, the royal fansprobably knows less about their union than they do about the marriage of, say, Prince William and Kate Middleton. Queen Elizabeth and her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, actually likes to keep things notoriously private. It should be noted that they have hardly spoken about their relationship to anyone. Although there’s little insight into their day-to-day lives, and, of course, there’s never any PDA.
But there are a few things we’ve learned about these two over the last several decades. Having been together for so long, this couple has shown the world just how far love can go. However, no marriage is completely easy, and this royal couple definitely isn’t an exception. Here are a few facts you didn’t know about Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip’s historic marriage.
Also read: How Prince Philip became the backbone and the ultimate poster boy of the royal family?
Princess Elizabeth’s parents did not approve of the match.
Initially, King George VI didn’t exactly approve of his daughter’s choice of groom. According to some reports, the king was concerned about British opinion when it came to his daughter marrying a Greek prince. And it wasn’t just Prince Philip’s family heritage that affected Elizabeth’s father’s opinion. What actually irritated him, was Philip’s loud, boisterous laugh and his blunt, seagoing manners.
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Philip had to make some sacrifices to marry Queen Elizabeth.
First off, he had to become a British citizen. Secondly he had to completely quit smoking. Philip once smoked cigarettes — a habit that Queen Elizabeth was not a fan of because of how much she hated her own father’s addiction. He smoked so much that, according to Vanity Fair, he kept his valet (John Dean) “busy refilling the cigarette boxes.” In the end, he gave it up for her.
The couple never hold hands in public.
Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip have been seen together many times during public engagements. However, they are never seen holding hands during those public moments. But, it isn’t because they aren’t fond of each other. As according to the reports, the couple believes in stoic values that are reflective of their generation. Also, Prince Philip called himself more of a pragmatist than a romantic.
Also read: Inside the private life of the Duke of Edinburgh, Philip.
There were suspicions that Prince Philip wasn’t always faithful.
With such a highly publicised marriage, there was bound to be news about Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip. The news that came out over the years was that the Duke of Edinburgh was not always faithful in his marriage. There have been rumours over time that associate Philip with women he knew throughout the years. Some reports stated that Philip was romantically involved with an unnamed woman whom he met in the West End apartment of a society photographer.
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