Prince Philip's death: his incredible romantic gesture on his wedding day to Queen Elizabeth II
In the light since their marriage in 1947 at Westminster Abbey, Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth II had nevertheless managed to keep the many secrets of their couple. And there is one the 94-year-old monarch will hold onto forever.
If one expects a prince to be charming, this was not really the case for Philip Mountbatten. A young officer in the Royal Navy when he had to entertain the one who would become Queen Elizabeth II ten years later, he had made no secret of his atypical character. Shocked by his manners, the governess of the daughters of King George VI then said of the soldier that he was "blunt" and "show off". A portrait that bears no resemblance to those that can be read in fairy tales. Which was not to displease Princess Elizabeth, who fell under the spell of her first cousin from their first meeting. Others, however, will try to make her change her mind with the approach of a marriage proposal: the prince of Greece and Denmark is not worthy of a future queen. According to George VI's advisers, Philip would be "rude, without manners, or education, and probably not of exemplary loyalty ...".
The words “loving” and “romantic” were therefore not on the list. And yet, the Duke of Edinburgh - who passed away this Friday, April 9 at the age of 99 at Windsor Castle - hid his game well. In private, Prince Philip was very attentive to Queen Elizabeth II. If he had to constantly walk two steps behind her since his coronation in 1953, he sent protocol waltz between the walls of Buckingham Palace. According to Peter Morgan, screenwriter of The Queen, Charles's father, Anne, Andrew and Edward nicknamed his royal wife "Chou". "I investigated with the royal circle and I learned from a reliable source that this was what the Duke called the Queen", he had entrusted in the columns of The Times.
This secret that Elizabeth II and Philip share since their marriage
Philip will show that he is for sure a cream on his wedding day to the future queen. On November 20, 1947, he proved that he had nothing to envy his namesake from the Disney team by preparing the most romantic of surprises for his bride. Inside the Welsh gold ring he was going to pass her at Westminster Abbey, the Duke of Edinburgh had taken care to have a note engraved, a tender declaration only for the pretty Elizabeth. "She never takes it off and the latter has an inscription. No one knows what she is saying except the engraver, the Queen and her husband, ”Ingrid Seward explained in Prince Philip: Revealed. The secret of an eternal story that the 94-year-old sovereign will keep to herself.
