Whilst we mourn the loss of a much treasured royal figure,
Queen Elizabeth has lost her consort...
..her husband
and the love of her life.
Throughout her reign, Prince Philip was there by her side,
someone she and the country could rely on.
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.
Their long marriage was a powerful symbol of durability and strength
rooted in the values of an earlier age.
However, I think that the main lesson that we've learnt
is that tolerance is the one essential ingredient
of any happy marriage,
and you can take it from me
that the Queen has the quality of tolerance in abundance.
LAUGHTER
From the moment of the couple's fairy-tale wedding back in 1947,
in the spectacular surroundings of Westminster Abbey,
Elizabeth and her prince captured the imagination of a nation.
It's been an essential ingredient
of Britain's mad, irrational love affair with the monarchy
that has persisted against all the odds.
It's because of that couple,
who've lived the love, who've lived the dream
and thus shared it with everybody else.
Philip was both her husband
and the man who swore to serve his Queen until the day he died.
I think his legacy has been...
You could say that he has been exceptional -
and how really extremely lucky we've been,
all of us in this country, to have had him there for the Queen.
The Duke of Edinburgh is no longer with us,
and the Queen will take strength from her family, her faith
and the goodwill of the nation.
Now is the moment for us to look back and celebrate
one of the greatest partnerships in British history.
A truly remarkable love story that has inspired generations.
It was a love affair that lasted a lifetime,
but it's said to have had its roots in the briefest of encounters.
On a rainy day in July 1939,
the Royal Yacht Victoria and Albert
sailed into Dartmouth Harbour.
King George VI, Queen Elizabeth and their daughters,
Elizabeth and Margaret, were there to visit the Royal Naval College.
Whilst their parents undertook their official engagements,
a promising young cadet by the name of Philip Mountbatten
was assigned to entertain the two young princesses.
Elizabeth was just 13 years old,
and Philip 18.
I've come to the college
because their archives hold a very special memento
of that significant day.
This album contains photographs of that historic meeting.
It's incredible to think that these grainy images are the first time
the couple, who are now so intrinsically linked
together in our minds, were captured together on camera.
It's said this was THE moment that the young princess
fell for that man who would one day become her husband.
Philip was quite the catch.
Tall, good-looking, he excelled at virtually every sport,
and he was top of his class.
Not only that, he was from good royal stock.
Just like Elizabeth, he was descended from Queen Victoria.
It's no wonder he made quite the impression on the young princess.
Gyles, can you begin by telling me
a little bit about the couple's meeting at Dartmouth?
Prince Philip was told that he had to look after these little girls
because he was their cousin and, so, he did his duty
and looked after them, as a nice boy would do.
He was startlingly good-looking, and amusing,
attractive in every sense, by all accounts.
So, they spent some time together, and I think got on well,
but I don't think there was more to it than that.
Elizabeth and Philip's friendship developed,
but over the next few years, world events were to take centre stage.
The country was entering one of the most tumultuous moments
in its history.
Just months after Elizabeth and Philip met at Dartmouth,
Britain would be at war.
Philip soon took part in active service,
and, at 21, he became one of the youngest lieutenants
in the Royal Navy.
Despite the Blitz, the King and Queen stayed in London
throughout the war, earning the respect of the British public.
And when she was 18, Princess Elizabeth joined up
with the Women's Auxiliary Service,
but it's said she always kept a picture of a bearded Philip
on her mantelpiece.
There's never been any suggestion
that Prince Philip's naval career was made easy -
he didn't have a desk job - because of his royal connections.
He saw action. He won awards for bravery.
He manned guns.
And so, through all of this, he's writing letters
as a naval officer to young Princess Elizabeth.
She's got her hero.
She's got her man.
NEWSREEL: Princess Elizabeth spent her 18th birthday quietly.
Royalty comes of age at 18.
But war did not permit any public celebration,
nor did her parents want it.
The girl who may one day be Queen
spent some time of the day at her desk
writing letters and answering personal phone calls.
Yes?
I asked Prince Philip about their courtship once.
You can imagine the response I got.
But what he did say was that, really,
it evolved over a period of time.
There wasn't any sudden moment. They just spent more time together.
When he was on leave during the Second World War,
he would go to Windsor,
and, gradually, it sort of developed into the relationship.
One of the great myths about the Queen
was that from the age of sort of 13, or 12,
when she first saw Prince Philip, there was no other man in her life.
Not so.
When she was a teenage girl, and, indeed, later,
she saw and met quite a number of eligible young men
who she thought were rather charming and quite interesting,
and it wasn't really till towards the end of the war,
1946 to '47, I think,
that she decided that Prince Philip really was the one.
In 1945, there was victory in Europe, and the nation celebrated.
Throughout the following year, the princess and her prince
were finally able to spend time together,
and their relationship blossomed.
In 1946, Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten
was invited to spend the summer with the family
at their Scottish holiday retreat, Balmoral.
It's said that that was where Philip proposed,
and the young Princess Elizabeth accepted without hesitation.
Afterwards, Philip wrote a letter
to her mother, Queen Elizabeth.
In it, he told her that,
"To have fallen in love completely and unreservedly
"makes all one's personal and even the world's troubles
"seem small and petty."
But the King and Queen felt that Elizabeth was still too young
to marry, and they urged the couple to wait.
Speculation mounted,
and the couple made a rare appearance together at a family wedding.
The official announcement would be almost a year away,
but, for some, the secret was already out of the bag.
Commander Keith "Scratch" Evans was secretary to Philip's captain,
and he remembers the lieutenant coming in with a special request.
I am about to meet one of the very few people outside royal circles
to know of Philip's intention to marry the young Princess Elizabeth.
So, Commander Evans, can you take me back to that particular day,
as it turns out rather an important day, what do you remember?
We all knew, I think, at the time,
that Lieutenant Mountbatten, as he was then,
and Princess Elizabeth were friendly people,
and they had been for some time and...
..it came to the point where he felt he should propose marriage to her.
He was obliged to get his captain's permission for special leave,
and Captain Biggs said, "Get him down to your office
"and we'll have a glass of gin together."
Well, we had two glasses of gin together,
and then he said, "We'd better let that young man out,"
and off he went.
As far as I was concerned, he was just another person.
He would be in the local pub playing skittles with other people.
So, once it was known that he had this association
with the young Princess Elizabeth, did it change the way he was treated?
Did it change the atmosphere around him?
I think people were proud
that they'd actually served with this man.
Yes, I have great admiration for him,
although he is junior to me, as a lieutenant!
And, after that, I wrote him a note congratulating him, and...
..he wrote back. I have the note here.
"My dear Scratch.
"It was most kind of you to write that note of congratulations.
"Thank you very much indeed.
"I hope you're having a pleasant leave.
"Yours, Philip."
That's a lovely thing to have, isn't it? That's a special thing to have.
Rumours of Elizabeth and Philip's engagement
soon reached the press,
and the couple experienced
an unprecedented level of intrusion.
These were sensitive times, and regardless of Philip's
distinguished war record, the idea of the future monarch
marrying a Greek-born prince with German connections
proved controversial.
In January 1947,
the Sunday Pictorial took a poll of readers' opinions
regarding the possible marriage of Princess Elizabeth to Prince Philip.
It was the first time ever that a British newspaper
had asked its readers to comment on such a personal royal matter.
The results, revealed over a number of weeks,
make for pretty fascinating reading.
In the beginning, plenty of people were against the match
and were happy to make their views crystal clear.
Here we are. "We, the Russell family, a father and two sons,
"who have served in two wars, say no to a marriage to a foreign prince."
And this from Mrs Cooke from Paignton.
She says, "Surely someone of good British stock could be found."
But as the weeks went on, it became clear that, more than anything,
the public wanted for their princess what they wanted for themselves -
a bright and happy future.
They wanted the young Elizabeth to go ahead and wed the man she loved.
I love some of the comments in here.
Miss Evans from Portsmouth writes, "I am only 14 years of age
"so it's my generation that will have the best part of her rule.
"So, me and my friends think
"she should be able to marry whom she pleases if she loves him.
"We think a happy queen is always a good queen."
With the engagement yet to be announced, the young princess
went with her family on an overseas tour far away from Philip.
George VI and Queen Elizabeth persuaded Princess Elizabeth
to go with them on their tour of South Africa,
with Princess Margaret Rose, before the engagement was announced,
just to give her an extra few months to think about it.
Elizabeth may have been out of the country,
but rumours of an engagement didn't go away.
NEWSREEL: While on her recent tour of Africa,
she wrote him several letters a week.
To enquiries about her engagement, the princess said,
"You must wait and see."
And it was while she was in South Africa, away from Philip,
that the young princess made a bold and uncompromising statement.
On her 21st birthday, in April 1947,
she made a speech that was broadcast to the nation.
I declare before you all that my whole life,
whether it be long or short,
shall be devoted to your service
and to the service
of our great imperial family
to which we all belong.
But I shall not have strength
to carry out this resolution alone,
unless you join in it with me,
as I now invite you to do.
Those remarkable words, uttered at such a tender age,
sought to unite Elizabeth with her people.
She declared herself devoted to their service
and dependant upon their support,
which was why their approval of her choice of husband mattered so much.
In addition to that,
not only would her union have to be strong enough
to withstand the demands of day-to-day family life,
a task in itself,
it would also have to be robust enough
to sustain the extraordinary pressure
that her lifetime service to her country would present.
Shortly after her return from South Africa,
the Palace took the step of officially announcing
that Princess Elizabeth had found the man she wanted to support her
through her unique lifetime's journey.
NEWSREEL: In anybody's life, engagement day's a red-letter day.
Princess Elizabeth and Lieutenant Mountbatten
will never forget July 10th 1947.
In the morning, they faced the world's press and photographers.
The platinum ring, with its one large diamond
and two smaller ones, tell the picture.
Philip played a role in designing the engagement ring,
and along with any other news about the impending wedding,
it was eagerly awaited by a nation
still in the grip of post-war austerity.
The ring was made by London jewellers Philip Antrobus,
which is now owned by Charlie Pragnell's family firm.
Charlie, you still make a ring
that is really very, very similar
to that original engagement ring.
Yes, yes. Can I see it? Yes.
We call it the Antrobus setting,
and it's a very classical ring.
It's deliberately
not exactly like Her Majesty's.
But very similar? But very similar in style.
It's really very, very beautiful.
Now, it was designed to be worn every day, was it? Absolutely.
And what are the features of the design that tell us that?
The centre stone is very protected, because there's eight claws,
platinum claws, and platinum's the hardest metal.
Furthermore, the shoulder stones are protected by a thread setting,
meaning that it wouldn't catch.
What, if she'd been wearing gloves, I guess?
Absolutely. Oh, right. Or on other clothing.
Looking at this, it's an odd sensation,
because suddenly it feels rather familiar to me,
and I think it's because in all the photographs
I've ever looked at of the Queen,
she is wearing this ring.
Looking at that now, I would describe that
as a classic engagement ring,
but at the time that it was commissioned,
in terms of its design,
how would it have been perceived, do you think?
It would've been perceived as contemporary.
It would've been perceived as a relatively modest choice.
After the Second World War, it would have been a time of austerity.
And it was designed, I suppose, with an eye to not making people think,
"Well, it's all right for them.
"Look at them, with their flashy jewels." Absolutely.
One would expect the Queen to have a wonderful engagement ring,
but it wasn't overstated.
It was relatively modest, bearing in mind her position,
and probably not the largest stone to come from...
..Prince Philip's mother's tiara.
So, you say that this ring was taken from the family tiara
of Prince Philip's mother, and that that was broken up. Yes.
What sort of style would that have been in?
How would it have looked when it was sitting in the tiara?
Well, we have a tiara here
which would have been made in about 1850 or 1860... Oh, goodness.
..which was a similar style to Princess Alice's tiara.
It's really exquisite, isn't it?
So, it would have held all these individual stones,
and they would have picked one that they thought was suitable?
Absolutely. As you can see, there's different sizes to choose from.
It's so delicate and beautiful.
It strikes me, though, they find one diamond
and there's a whole lot of other stuff
in this beautiful, broken-up tiara that's left, so what happened to it?
They had a plan. Philip decided to put the other diamonds to good use.
Thought a wedding present was a good idea.
It looked very similar to this.
Oh, my goodness me!
That is very... Can I use the word "blingy?"
That is really very blingy indeed!
Isn't it wonderful? I have to say I love it.
I mean, that is much more opulent than the ring. Absolutely.
It's a bracelet fit for the Queen of England. It certainly is!
Can I try it on? Absolutely.
Will you do the honours?
SHE GASPS
It's exquisite!
Very big stones.
And do we know if Philip himself
had much to do with the actual design of the piece?
I'm sure he would have had input.
There's, for the time, a contemporary style to the jewellery.
The central stones would have come from the tiara,
and some of the larger, round diamonds, but the geometric shape
is Deco in style...
Right. ..and typical of the style of the period.
Really very beautiful indeed.
Is it recorded what the reaction of the princess was when she saw it?
Not much different from yours, I'd imagine.
She's certainly worn it a lot, hasn't she?
Absolutely. She wears it on many important occasions
and I'm sure it's one of her favourite pieces of jewellery.
And I believe the Duchess of Cambridge has been
photographed wearing it at an event.
And so, aside from being incredibly exquisite
and, I imagine, a joy to wear, you know, jewellery often has a message.
What was the message in this bracelet?
I think it's a message of love, primarily,
but also a message that says,
"We'd like to contribute a gift
"that's suitable for a queen, from our family."
So I think there's a number of messages in this.
Excitement about the wedding grew,
and the newly engaged couple began to attend official engagements,
the beginning of over 70 years of teamwork and public service.
NEWSREEL: A 40,000 crowd packed the shipyard
to offer congratulations to the royal couple.
The happiness of the princess
at being with her fiance for the occasion was evident.
I am so happy that on this, my third visit,
my future husband is by my side.
CHEERING
I name this ship Caronia.
May God bless her and all who sail in her.
In 1947, Britain was still trying to get back on its feet.
The winter had been one of the cruellest on record.
The economy was fragile, and rationing was still in full force.
So, by royal standards,
it was decided the wedding was not to be an extravagant affair.
Yet, despite the restrictions, on 20th November 1947,
into dull, grey Britain came a real-life fairy tale.
The streets of London were packed with excited crowds.
Princess Elizabeth was at last marrying her prince,
and the country was delighted to have something to celebrate.
It was the largest gathering of royalty anyone could remember.
The only sadness for Philip must have been that his own sisters
were not amongst the 2,500-strong congregation.
They were married to German aristocrats,
and the war was still fresh in people's minds.
But for those people lining the streets,
this was a sign that the country was returning to normal
and there was a bright new future.
Amongst the bystanders was schoolgirl Antonia Fraser.
So, Lady Antonia, just looking at these pictures,
just take me back to that day when you were actually
there in the crowd. What do you think as you're watching it?
I think it looks magic,
and it reminds me of that extraordinary time.
I was 15 and at school. And it takes me back to how colourful it all was
at a time when our lives were extremely grey.
It's only two years after the end of the war and, suddenly,
as in a fairy story,
you know, a princess gets married to a prince,
and we were starved of that kind of thing.
These are very, very glamorous images.
What did you make at the time of the young royal couple?
Princess Elizabeth was an extremely pretty young woman.
She had a lovely complexion and a lovely figure
and she was a real princess.
And as a romantic figure, I mean, a young prince - tall, blond,
handsome, a high achiever -
did that capture the young 15-year-old Antonia's imagination?
I think we all wanted to marry Prince Charming, aged 15,
and there he was. And he WAS Prince Charming.
I think the Queen was terribly lucky to have a man like that,
a proper man who would be the head of the family,
and not publicly resent her apparently superior position.
CROWD CHEERING
Yes, the Queen was lucky, and, of course, so was he.
And why did you want to be there so much?
Because it was a glamorous event, but it was also history, of course.
Mentally, we were all still involved in the war,
and so out of the ruins comes this marvellous love story.
The royals themselves, of course,
in a situation of considerable privilege,
but in its way, their story, the royal story, sort of mirrored
what was happening in the country, to a degree.
You know, a lot of people were getting married,
getting married quickly, in those years after the war.
Yes, I think you could argue Prince Philip came back from the war,
like so many young men,
and Princess Elizabeth had clearly been in love with him for some time,
and at last it comes right.
Winston Churchill summed up the impact of the wedding
on post-war Britain when he said that, "Millions will welcome
"this joyous event as a flash of colour
"on the hard road we have to travel."
The royal couple spent their honeymoon
at the Mountbatten family estate near Romsey
and then at Balmoral.
Whilst there, Philip wrote a letter to his mother-in-law.
"Lilibet is the only thing in the world
"which is absolutely real to me,
"and my ambition is to weld the two of us
"into a new combined existence
"that will not only be able to withstand the shocks directed at us
"but will also have a positive existence for the good."
And the princess wrote that she and her husband, "Behave as though
"we have belonged to each other for years.
"I only hope that I can bring up my children in the happy atmosphere
"of love and fairness which Margaret and I have grown up in."
They wouldn't have to wait too long to find out
what sort of parents they would make.
Within a year, there was a new heir to the throne - Prince Charles.
And less than two years after that, Princess Anne was born.
When Queen Elizabeth, unlike Queen Victoria, married,
she was still a princess. She hadn't come to the throne.
Because what this meant was that
for a couple of years
they could have a comparatively ordinary life.
It was Prince Philip's career as a very rising naval officer
that seemed like the important one,
and certainly when he was seconded to Malta,
Princess Elizabeth could go along with him
and live as close to an ordinary life as she's ever had.
The Queen loved being Lieutenant Mountbatten's wife.
The Queen could go shopping.
She could go and get her hair done at the local hairdresser...
..dance at naval dances,
let her hair down entirely.
But this didn't last very long.
In the summer of '51,
it really all came to an end with the illness of her father.
NEWSREEL: From holiday in Balmoral,
the King came down to London on medical advice.
His long rest had not cured some deep-set trouble.
The King was gravely ill.
And even as we watched and waited, the nation prayed.
It was just such a tragedy,
and it meant that they had to come home.
Yes, because I think he was just about to get command, wasn't he,
of his next ship when it all happened?
So that, I'm sure, was a blow.
For him, he'd obviously thought the Navy was his career
till he gave up.
But then he was projected into an entirely new situation,
which he'd have to deal with.
But I think, from that moment on, as far as one could see,
he decided this was going to be his life
and he was going to dedicate it to her.
In early 1952, with the King unable to travel,
the young couple took his place on what would be
the first of their many international engagements together.
The King came to say goodbye,
and it would be the last time the princess would see her father alive.
The pair were in a remote part of Kenya
when news reached Philip that the King had passed away,
and it was down to him to tell his young wife.
NEWSREEL: It was in Kenya at the royal hunting lodge
that the news of the King's death reached his daughter.
When she returned from a night in the forest,
it was to learn that she is now the Queen,
acceding to her father's throne immediately.
There is no break in the continuity of the British monarchy.
It was her own decision to return at once to London.
That must have been totally shattering
when one thinks about it,
if it happened to have been oneself,
knowing what was coming,
on top of the horror of losing your father.
And she walked down those steps -
I think we can all see it now,
dressed in black, coming down the steps of that aeroplane.
The beginning of it, the whole thing...
Her life had changed. And his.
As Britain mourned the death of the monarch,
Elizabeth and Philip faced a destiny they had been preparing for.
But it had come sooner than either of them could have imagined.
NEWSREEL: Tragic in sombre black, the ladies of his house follow -
the Queen, the Queen Mother and Princess Margaret,
together in their grief.
A young queen takes over the burden of monarchy.
To the Queen Mother, in this hour of sorrow,
goes the deep sympathy of all who honour the man
now at rest in the Chapel of St George at Windsor.
Elizabeth Alexandra Mary is now,
by the death of our late sovereign of happy memory,
become Queen Elizabeth II, by the grace of God, Queen of this realm.
God save the Queen!
Hip hip!
Hooray!
Hip hip!
Hooray!
Hip hip!
Hooray!
The Coronation took place on 2nd June 1953.
Less than five years after their wedding day,
the Queen and her husband returned here to Westminster Abbey
to make new vows.
MUSIC: Zadok The Priest by Handel
It's been estimated that three million people
packed the streets of London to celebrate this historic moment,
and thanks to Prince Philip, whose idea it was for the event
to be televised, around 20 million people watched from home.
Few could have failed to have been moved
by this incredible and sacred ritual...
..when the young Queen was set apart for her high and lonely office.
God save the Queen!
In an extremely poignant moment,
Prince Philip knelt in front of the Queen to pledge his service.
I, Philip, do become your liege man of life and limb,
and of earthly worship,
and faith and truth I will bear unto you, to live and die,
against all manner of folks. So help me God.
It symbolised a dramatic shift in the couple's relationship.
The life they had known together was effectively over.
Philip had to kneel in front of his wife
with the eyes of millions on him
and vow to be her "liege man of life and limb".
Well, like the promise that she made on her 21st birthday,
he's kept that promise.
Philip was as much the Queen's subject as he was her husband,
and it would be a unique and difficult path
for both of them to negotiate.
And when the princess became the Queen,
how do you think that impacted their relationship as a married couple?
Everything changed, no question of that.
I think it's inevitable that this must have taken a toll.
There must have been a price to pay for this.
It's a constitutional monarchy.
The Queen is advised by the Prime Minister, her Private Secretary,
that's the way it works,
and Prince Philip said to me,
"I was told to keep out, and I did."
He was there to be the father and to forge his own way of life,
and his own working life, which he did.
So, it's not been a problem for him,
because he's known "it's not about me, it's about my duty".
I look upon it this way,
that the institution is the thing that matters to the country,
and we are merely the temporary tenants of it.
Philip had been forced to sacrifice his naval career,
something he loved,
but following the Queen's accession,
he took charge of the running of the royal estates.
He also played an extremely active role in charity work
and founded the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme.
But, despite their separate roles, there were plenty of occasions
when the couple worked together.
Within five months of the Coronation,
the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh set off
on the most ambitious royal tour ever seen.
It was a crucial moment for the new Queen
to prove her dedication to the Commonwealth.
For six months, they'd be separated from their two young children
whilst they travelled to the other side of the world and back,
taking in more than seven countries.
The Duke of Edinburgh told me how he and the Queen had been
to Australia shortly after the Coronation,
when millions of people
turned out on the streets to see them.
And he said, "The level of adulation, you would not believe it.
"It was just magical."
Over the next seven decades,
touring would be an integral part of the couple's lives.
Queen Elizabeth would become
the most travelled monarch in the history of the world,
with Philip her constant companion -
but a companion of a lesser rank
who had to follow strict protocol
and remain always a few steps behind his Queen.
What's brilliant about the Duke of Edinburgh is not once
has he put a foot wrong, or indeed a foot in front of the Queen,
and he does this because it's his duty,
because he's a gentleman,
because it's instinctive,
because he believes in royalty,
because he decided, when he married Princess Elizabeth,
he knew she would be Queen, and he committed himself to that,
so the Duke of Edinburgh stood one step behind the Queen
as long as she stood.
And unless the Queen sits down, he won't sit down.
If the Queen is there, he stands there.
Because no man sort of worth his salt, really,
would want to be two steps behind.
He walks two steps behind, but he's never been two steps behind, has he?
Ever. He's been his own man.
Perhaps the greatest conjuring trick
that Prince Philip pulled off in his life
was to occupy, for decades, a secondary role,
officially and personally, one step behind,
one rank lower, always deferring to his wife,
yet nobody ever doubted his masculinity,
nobody ever doubted that he wore the trousers,
and nobody ever lost respect for him.
Here was a couple who were a partnership.
The success of this working partnership was most evident
on their extensive tours to every part of the globe.
Anwar Hussein is a royal photographer who began
touring with the couple in the 1970s,
and his son Samir has gone on to follow in the same footsteps.
Anwar, I have to begin by saying
I think that your photographs of the royals are probably
my absolute favourites,
and they seem to capture something different.
What I was looking... I just wanted to photograph the royal family,
like a photo reportage.
I didn't want any still pictures.
And so I decided, "OK, I'll start doing royal pictures
"where they're looking more casual,
"more easy-going, and things like that."
A sort of informality. Informality, that's what I wanted to bring.
And they loved the casual approach which I was giving to them.
From those days - we've been talking right now specifically
about the '70s and '80s -
what's your favourite picture of them together? Do you have one?
I mean, the pictures in Tuvalu,
where they're sitting on a floor,
flowers in their hair,
and the Duke wearing sandals and things like that!
It's just quite interesting, because you've never seen them
in that sort of light, and that is sort of very interesting.
When these great royal tours happened,
a lot of your photographs capture them together so well... Yeah.
..capture the interplay between them,
quite often, it seems, him making her laugh. Yeah, yeah.
I think he's got an amazing, wicked sense of humour,
which he sometimes will do... To make the Queen relax
or something like that, he'll crack a joke.
I don't know whether she approves of some of his jokes, but she...
I call it the amusing look.
Like the Queen said, "We are not amused,"
but she was amused, really!
KIRSTY LAUGHS
Part of Prince Philip's support of her
lay in actually encouraging her
to smile a bit more, to, you know, engage with people a little more.
So I think probably, on the tours especially,
his support was very important to her.
I think the Duke would often lean over to the Queen
and say a little word to her or say a little joke,
and they'd burst out into laughter.
So, humour was definitely a big part of their relationship, I think.
The Duke was able
to totally be himself in front of her. He was able to use humour
and say how he felt.
I think that really made her feel at ease.
And when she has all these other pressures and responsibilities,
she could rely on him,
and they became a very tight unit, in that respect.
As the tours and official duties became relentless,
and the public demand for them seemed ever-increasing,
the couple had to find time to focus on their own growing family.
NEWSREEL: The pleasures of family life are enjoyed
by the baby's mother and father less frequently than by ordinary parents.
To be head of the Commonwealth entails long absences abroad,
and what a sacrifice that must be is brought home to us
by these glimpses of the happiness that comes to the royal family
when they are all at home together.
After the birth of their two younger children, Andrew and Edward,
the Queen made a point of cutting down on engagements
so that she could spend more time with them.
The couple were entering a new stage of their lives,
where the pressure was starting to lift a little.
I think young people, a young Queen and young family,
is infinitely more newsworthy and amusing than, you know...
We're getting on for middle age, and I dare say when we...
..are really ancient...
..there might be a bit more reverence again! I don't know!
But I just thought, "We're entering probably
"the least interesting period of, you know,
"a kind of glamorous existence."
Yet, despite their attempts to step away from the spotlight,
the world's appetite for the royal family remained intense,
and throughout their travels, there was one thing that provided them
with an important and much welcome sense of familiarity -
the Royal Yacht Britannia.
For over 40 years, this magnificent vessel
circumnavigated the globe,
played host to some of the world's most powerful people
and provided hundreds of thousands of well-wishers
with their first real glimpse of the Queen and her family.
Beyond the public gaze,
Britannia offered the royal family a sanctuary,
somewhere they could relax, enjoy themselves, really escape.
It occupied a particularly special place in their affections.
And its success was largely down to the couple,
because they played a key role in its design.
Elizabeth and Philip commissioned architect Hugh Casson
to help them achieve their vision,
and his daughter remembers the couple
as having very specific ideas about what they wanted.
Prince Philip certainly really wanted to make a difference
I think in the way they lived,
because, after all, they were living in inherited environments.
All the other palaces were
full of other people's furnishings
and knick-knacks and paintings and whatever.
So they wanted their own place. Actually, why not?
The Queen didn't want to spend a lot of money on the ship,
so she was keen on keeping costs as low as possible.
Once Father had done his sketches,
he was asked if he would go to Balmoral to show them
and to... Quite nerve-racking.
Nerve-racking? He was an absolute state!
He showed them designs.
Prince Philip was keen to make sure that everything was practical.
He wanted white paint, not too much gilding.
He wanted everything to be kept as low key
and as maintenance free as possible.
But of course they realised that
this was a palace on the water, if you like.
They were going to have to host state dinners,
so a certain amount of grandeur had to come into the dining room,
for example, and that sort of thing.
It saw an extraordinary amount of the great and the good
from around the world.
I mean, this interior has seen scenes probably like no other.
Well, probably, yes, so they had to make an environment which was going
to be reasonably comfortable for them, but also for their guests.
Through in the State Room, obviously it's very, very grand...
Yes. ..and here it's... Well, it's rather homely, I suppose.
Yes, I think so. Can we take a look around? Yes, let's.
So, Carola, this room here was Her Majesty's private sitting room.
Mm-hm. It's a little working room, though, isn't it? We can see. Yes.
And so, she'd be doing her red boxes and all the business of the day.
Yes. Do you see the gaps? Those were made specially to fit the red boxes.
Oh, were they?
So, this is a mirror image, but it's quite different in tone, isn't it?
It's completely different, yes. Much more masculine.
Much more masculine. And there's a model of his ship
that he commanded.
I think that he yearned for his naval days and, in a way,
he wanted his environment here to remind him of the Navy.
This is the Sun Lounge, is it?
Yes. This is my very favourite room.
Yes, it's lovely, isn't it? It really is very homely, this one.
It's so unexpectedly cosy, and it's entirely personal,
with the boxes of games and the record player,
and the seats all arranged so people can chat.
This is not a space for the grand reception.
No, not at all, and this is a private room, nobody came here
except the family, and it's the one place where they could take
their shoes off and put their feet up.
This is exactly what I want to do, and I want somebody to mix me
a cocktail from that delightful little cocktail cabinet. Absolutely.
It's the antithesis of stuffy.
It's a home, this place. Absolutely, yes.
Where Britannia could be a haven from the outside world,
Elizabeth and Philip readily shared
their personal landmarks and achievements with the public.
In 1972, they celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary.
APPLAUSE AND CHEERING
I think everybody really will concede that on this of all days,
I should begin my speech with the words, "My husband and I..."
LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE
Now that we have reached this milestone in our lives...
..we can see how immensely lucky we have been,
or perhaps "fortunate" might be a better word.
We had the good fortune to grow up in happy and united families...
..we have been fortunate in our children...
..and above all, we are fortunate
in being able to serve this great country and Commonwealth.
If I am asked today what I think about family life
after 25 years of marriage,
I can answer with equal simplicity and conviction.
I am for it.
LAUGHTER
NEWSREEL: As the Queen and the Lord Mayor, having lunched
in Guildhall, move out among the people, surrounded by cameras,
Prince Philip never at a loss for a merry quip on such occasions.
But this moment belongs to the people.
People who've waited for a long time in the drizzle
for the chance of not only seeing the Queen,
but actually talking to her on her silver wedding day.
But the spotlight was starting to shift to the next generation.
The following year, all eyes were once again
on Westminster Abbey, to see the first of their children get married.
A global audience of around 500 million
watched Princess Anne marry Mark Phillips.
And there were more to look forward to.
In 1981, Prince Charles married Diana Spencer,
and five years later, Andrew tied the knot with Sarah Ferguson.
The couple also welcomed the arrival of their grandchildren.
The future of the monarchy looked secure,
but in the 1990s, the couple would face one of the most difficult
and challenging periods of their married life.
1992 saw one of the highest divorce rates in British history,
and the royal family were no exception.
Despite the strength of their own marriage,
the Queen and Prince Philip were powerless to help
when their children's relationships got into difficulty,
and the world watched as the idealistic image
of the perfect royal family was tarnished.
Buckingham Palace has announced that the Princess Royal is
petitioning for divorce from Captain Mark Phillips.
Coming so soon after the marriage troubles
of the Duke and Duchess of York, today's announcement makes this
an unhappy period for the Queen.
It is announced from Buckingham Palace that, with regret,
the Prince and Princess of Wales have decided to separate.
1992 is not a year on which I shall look back with undiluted pleasure.
In the words of one of my more sympathetic correspondents,
it has turned out to be an annus horribilis.
How difficult was it for them, as a couple, given all
they'd been through? Because there HAD been ups and downs.
As Prince Philip once said to me, "We are a family."
And clearly they were a real family,
and it's reflected the world in which they lived,
so in THEIR marriage, there clearly were ups and downs,
there were difficult times.
Three of their children got divorced.
And the Duke of Edinburgh once expressed to me a sort of sense
of frustration that the media were turning the royal family
into some sort of soap opera.
Elizabeth and Philip had always been the subject of media scrutiny,
but in the '90s, their personal family life was exposed
in an extremely public way.
What I admired about the Queen and Prince Philip was they were
true to themselves, they kept going, and they survived the ups and downs
largely by ignoring the press and the media,
but they went through that, they came out the other side.
Despite the tough time the family had been through, the couple's
golden wedding anniversary was a cause for celebration.
50 years on from their fairy-tale wedding, Elizabeth and Philip
gave speeches at separate events in which they made rare public comments
about their relationship.
At Banqueting House,
the Queen made it clear how much she had always valued Philip's support.
He 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.
And Prince Philip was equally generous in his praise
of the Queen's commitment to their long marriage.
When there's lots to do, time seems to fly.
It appears to us, at least,
that we've been fairly busy over the last 50 years.
LAUGHTER
It's been a challenge for us, but by trial and experience,
I believe we have achieved a sensible division of labour
and a good balance between our individual and joint interests.
The trouble is that no two marriages are quite alike.
However, I think that the main lesson that we've learnt is that
tolerance is the one essential ingredient of any happy marriage.
It may not be quite so important when things are going well,
but it is absolutely vital when things get difficult.
And you can take it from me
that the Queen has the quality of tolerance in abundance.
A major part of their successful relationship was the unique role
they played in each other's lives.
The fascinating thing about their relationship, of course,
was that there's always an invisible moat around the Queen,
and nobody really treated the Queen normally except for Prince Philip,
and nobody could say to the Duke of Edinburgh,
"Oh, Philip, do shut up," except for the Queen - and she did.
Elizabeth and Philip's was the longest royal marriage
in British history.
A milestone others are unlikely ever to achieve or surpass.
It's incredible to think of them all those years ago in post-war Britain,
when they were just setting out on their journey.
It began here, in this remarkable abbey, their marriage.
How much do you think, in reality, faith played a part in their union?
Very important.
I think they had a very sort of deeply loyal
sense of...of duty, which was
bolstered and encouraged and uplifted, as it were,
by their faith, and I think that was very great.
And so, of course, you led the service
for the diamond wedding anniversary celebrations.
Just tell me a bit about that.
It was grand, we had the Yeomen of the Guard, the Gentlemen at Arms,
and we had representatives of the Churches from all over
and the other faith communities and so on, they were all here,
and there was a load of people lined up in the procession,
and the Duke turned to me and said,
"So, um, what are you going to do to get this procession started?"
He said, "Do you blow a whistle or wave a green flag?"
So, you know, always bringing a touch of humour to solemn occasions.
I mean, a most amazing man.
He was extraordinarily good with people, and fascinated by people.
He'd spend an hour, you know, well into his 90s,
going around talking to everyone, you know, and people laughing.
The fact that they could be together in their 90s,
that they could see each other at that stage in their life,
how significant do you think that was in their partnership?
Well, I'm sure... I mean, it's an extraordinary blessing, isn't it,
to have all those years, all those memories?
I think that must have been wonderful, and of course,
it's hard to imagine how it will be for the Queen now that he's gone.
Now, of course, for every widow
there will be that dreadful loneliness,
but for the Queen, now, there is no-one left who can really
advise her on terms of equality,
no-one with whom she shared that past,
and who can tell her the odds as Lilibet, not as Her Majesty.
One of the problems of growing older is friends and family do die
and, over the years, the Queen has lost many close friends and family.
Her sister, Princess Margaret, her mother
and now the Duke of Edinburgh.
But the Queen is sustained by her Christian faith.
It is key to everything in her life, and that will be her consolation.
She will know... She believes in God, she believes in heaven,
she knows that she will see Prince Philip again.
For over 70 years, the Queen and Prince Philip played
a significant and crucial role
in the enduring popularity of the monarchy.
It was a relationship built on strong foundations...
..mutual respect and affection...
..a shared sense of humour and, above all, a dedication to duty.
Queen Elizabeth mourns the loss of her partner in life.
The nation mourns with her.
She has lost her husband, and we have lost the prince consort.
But the memories of their long-lasting marriage will live on
for the Queen and for the people.