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Queen Elizabeth II died at the age of 96 at Balmoral Castle on Thursday, a year and half after her beloved husband Prince Philip’s death in April 2021.
The pair was married for 73 years, making them the longest-married couple in royal history.
Their decades-long romance endured through many difficult times for the royal family over the years, with the monarch once referring to her spouse as “my strength and stay.”
Queen Elizabeth II, who died on Thursday at the age of 96, shared a decades-long romance with her late husband Prince Philip.
(AP Photo/Alastair Grant, File)
The couple first met at a wedding when Queen Elizabeth was 7-years-old and Prince Philip was 12.
QUEEN ELIZABETH II DIES AT 96: A LOOK AT HER LIFE AS BRITISH ROYALTY
However, it was when they encountered each again five years later in 1939 at the Royal Naval College that their romance began to blossom.
After Prince Philip left to serve in World War II, the two began to exchange letters. Upon his return from the war in 1943, he began to court the then-princess with the intention of marriage.
Though her parents King George VI and Queen Consort Elizabeth initially had their doubts about the union due to her young age, they eventually gave their blessing.
The two became secretly engaged in 1946 but at the king’s request, they delayed announcing their formal engagement until after Queen Elizabeth’s 21st birthday the following April.
Their engagement was announced in July 1947 and the couple wed on November 20, 1947, at Westminster Abbey in London.
“She fell in love, and she never looked at anyone else,” biographer Sally Bedell Smith previously said of Elizabeth.
The pair was married for 73 years, making them the longest-married couple in royal history.
(Photo by Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
The pair welcomed their first son Prince Charles in 1948 and their daughter Princess Anne in 1950.
In 1952, the pair was on tour in Kenya when they received the shocking news that King George had died. Elizabeth immediately ascended to the throne, becoming Queen Elizabeth II, with her coronation taking place in June 1953.
Though he received the titles of Duke of Edinburgh, Earl of Merioneth, and Baron Greenwich upon marrying Elizabeth, Philip was not crowned at her coronation.
In 1957, Queen Elizabeth issued patent letters, giving him the title of Prince of the United Kingdom.
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They welcomed sons Prince Andrew in 1960 and Prince Edward in 1964. Together they weathered political challenges as well as personal scandals involving their children.
On their Golden Wedding Anniversary in 1997, Queen Elizabeth delivered a speech in which she said Prince Philip “is someone who doesn’t take easily to compliments but he has, quite simply, been my strength and stay all these years, and I, and his whole family, and this and many other countries, owe him a debt greater than he would ever claim, or we shall ever know.”
In his speech to mark the occasion, Prince Philip, who called his wife “Lillibet” in private, said, “The main lesson that we have learned is that tolerance is the one essential ingredient of any happy marriage.”
In his speech to mark the occasion, Prince Philip, who called his wife “Lillibet” in private, said, “The main lesson that we have learned is that tolerance is the one essential ingredient of any happy marriage.”
(Steve Parsons/PA Images via Getty Images)
He added, “It may not be quite so important when things are going well, but it is absolutely vital when things get difficult — you can take it from me that the queen has the quality of tolerance in abundance.”
Prince Philip died on April 9, 2021 at the age of 99, a few months shy of his 100th birthday.
“The secret between their marriage was mutual respect, understanding and space,” True Royalty TV co-founder Nick Bullen told Fox News Digital following the news. “As the duke, Philip knew that he had to do his duty. He was always there for the queen.”
At the time, Prince Andrew also told reporters, “I feel very sorry and supportive of my mother, who is feeling it, I think, probably more than everybody else.”
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He added, “She described it as having left a huge void in her life, but we, the family, the ones that are closer, are rallying around to make sure that we are there to support her, and I know there’s a huge amount of support not just for her but for everybody as we go through this enormous change.”
Prince Philip was buried at Royal Vault in St George’s Chapel. According to reports on Thursday, his body is to be moved, and he will be laid to rest alongside Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor Castle’s King George VI Memorial Chapel.
