Inside Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip’s enduring royal romance
nypost.comdied peacefully in her sleep at Balmoral Castle at age 96 on Thursday — just a little over a year after her beloved husband passed on April 9, 2021.Lasting more than seven decades, the romance between Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip was a love story that captivated followers for generations.The legendary pairing — which was the longest marriage in the history of the British royal family — began in 1939, when a 13-year-old Princess Elizabeth of England officially met, and was instantly charmed by, the dashing young Prince Philip of Greece.All of 18 at the time, Philip Mountbatten was preparing for a career in the Royal Navy, attending Britannia Royal Naval College in Dartmouth, England, where Elizabeth’s father King George VI had also attended.Despite the pair having met at royal events before, the third cousins — both of them shared a great-grandmother in Queen Victoria — weren’t properly introduced until young Elizabeth was touring the Naval College.According to those close to the family, it was love at first sight.Queen Elizabeth’s nanny Marion Crawford wrote in her book “The Little Princesses” that the teenager would “turn pink” whenever she saw Philip, adding she “never took her eyes off him.”Her interest in the young prince was also acknowledged by her cousin Margaret Rhodes, who wrote that the princess “was truly in love from the very beginning” in her autobiography “The Final Curtsey: A Royal Memoir by the Queen’s Cousin.”Elizabeth wasn’t the only one taken with the handsome prince.
King George VI reportedly felt Philip to be “the right man for the job” of the soon-to-be queen’s consort. The young lovers spent years keeping in touch by exchanging letters with each other during World War II.
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