Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Queen Elizabeth’s Wedding to Prince Philip Inline
Photo: Getty Images1/6Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh are distant cousins who first met at a wedding of Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark and Prince George, Duke of Kent. They were reintroduced years later and started writing letters to one another. The couple became secretly engaged in 1946 when Philip asked King George VI for his daughter’s hand in marriage, but the formal announcement was delayed until Elizabeth turned 21.
Photo: Getty Images2/6The couple were married on November 20, 1947, in front of 2,000 guests at Westminster Abbey. The bride wore a duchesse satin gown, designed by Norman Hartnell, with star lily and orange blossom motifs and encrusted with 10,000 pearls. Since Britain was still in the midst of post–World War II recovery, Princess Elizabeth even paid for her dress’s fabric using ration coupons, and like Kate Middleton after her, she did her own makeup on her wedding day (royals, they’re just like us!). Right before leaving Buckingham Palace for Westminster Abbey, her tiara snapped. The court jeweler was rushed to the princess via police escort and luckily was able to make the necessary fixes just in time, and the ceremony went off without a hitch.
Photo: Getty Images3/6Princess Elizabeth was attended by eight bridesmaids, including her sister, Princess Margaret. While everything went smoothly, the event wasn’t without drama. Elizabeth’s uncle, the Duke of Windsor (the royal formally known as Edward VIII), was not on the guest list, largely because of his decision to abdicate and take up with twice-divorced Wallis Simpson. His sister, Mary, Princess Royal, also skipped out, saying she was sick. Her husband had died six months prior, but some speculate she was a no-show because her brother’s exclusion from the festivities.
Photo: Getty Images4/6Afterward, the newlyweds traveled by carriage to Buckingham Palace.
Photo: Getty Images5/6Joining the married couple on the balcony were King George VI and his wife, Queen Elizabeth, who later became the Queen Mother; Elizabeth’s paternal grandmother, Queen Mary; the bride’s younger sister, Princess Margaret; and Lady Mary Cambridge.
