Love & Majesty

It was in 1947, that a union that could be described as the best, the rarest and the one with the perfect fairy tale ending took place: a royal love match.

She was thirteen when she first set her eyes on him. The day she and her parents, toured the Royal Naval College at Dartmouth an 18-year-old blond naval cadet was assigned to escort her around. Obviously something clicked. Soon the two were writing letters; she kept a framed photo of him by her bed.

And it wasn't as though there weren't enough number of suiters she could choose from. "There was a whole battalion of lively young men," recalled Lady Anne Glenconner, a family friend. But she "realized her destiny and set her heart on him at an early age. He was ideal-good-looking..."

So handsome was he that some called him "A blond Greek Apollo"; "a Viking;" "handsome as any film star," but alas, he was also "unpolished," arrogant, destitute, and-perhaps worst of all for a country just emerging from World War Two-he was "too German."

As Nancy Bilyeau writes in 'The Story of Queen Elizabeth's Wedding,' 'there was no getting around it: he was of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glucksberg. While he'd been taken in by English relatives in his youth, his four sisters all married German princes. Three of his brothers-in-law joined the Nazi party.' And so, her mother was not too sure about having him as her son-in-law. In private she called him "the Hun."

Yet they persevered. Through letters and occasional moments together, he courted her. In 1946 when Prince Philip of Greece, proposed in Scotland, Princess Elizabeth II, said yes. But that is when their romance turned tricky.

Her father, King George, insisted the couple wait to announce their engagement until his 'Lilibet,' barely 20, was older. Within an year, however, the romance of the attractive young couple won the necessary hearts. The wedding date was set for 20th November 1947. The only obstacle that remained was money. In the aftermath of the Second World War, Britain still had food rationing, and exercised controls on imports of petrol, tobacco, and paper.

Amazingly, with the clothing coupons she saved Princess Elizabeth managed to wear a dress that was breathtakingly beautiful: an ivory silk wedding gown sewn with thousands of seed pearls. On her feet, she wore ivory duchess satin high heels, embellished with silver and pearls. The-star patterned bridal train was 13 feet in length. Rumor had it the dress was inspired by a Botticelli painting from 1482.

In contrast to his beaming bride to be, Philip, by then called the Duke of Edinburgh, always indifferent to clothes and fond of economizing, simply wore his naval uniform and reportedly wore darned socks on his wedding day.

As with every wedding, there were a few mishaps too. On the way to the ceremony, Princess Elizabeth's diamond tiara (which can also be worn as a necklace), originally made for Queen Mary in 1919 and borrowed by the princess from her mother for the wedding, snapped and the court jeweler had to be summoned to make the necessary repairs.

This was the wedding of the future monarch of Britain, so anonymity was out of the question. The ceremony was broadcast on the radio to millions of listeners, and there were 2,500 guests at Westminster, including six kings and seven queens. The wedding cake itself was a grand affair, standing at nine-foot high, weighing 500 pounds and featuring four tiers. Made from ingredients received from the Australian Girl Guides, the cake was cut using Philip's sword.

Here's how Lady Pamela Hicks, one of the eight bridesmaids who carried white orchids, lilies of the valley, gardenias and white roses on that magical day, recalls the events of that morning. "Princess Elizabeth with her marvellous complexion and Prince Philip such a devastatingly handsome naval officer. He looked tender, she was adoring. They really were a dream couple."

From that day on, they have been living 'happily ever after' for 69 years. Here's wishing them many more years of majestic bliss.

- Aditha