From the ‘secret message’ engraved in Queen Elizabeth’s wedding ring, to Prince Philip’s nicknames for her – inside the lives of the royal newlyweds

‘A fairy tale wedding’, one broadsheet called it, while another reflected on ‘a day of smiles’.

It was on 20 November 1947 that Princess Elizabeth married her true love, Philip Mountbatten.

Having become smitten with him when she was just 13 years old, and he 18, the pair first got to know each other by exchanging letters. From that moment their dedication to each other was lifelong, having been married for 73 years until Prince Philip’s death, aged 99, in April 2021.

From Elizabeth’s decision to marry him despite courtiers advising otherwise, to the ‘secret message’ Philip had engraved into the Queen’s wedding ring that only the two of them and their jeweller knew, they proved their love time and time again.

Princess Elizabeth and her fiance, Philip Mountbatten at Buckingham Palace, after their engagement was announced in July 1947. (Picture: Getty Images)

Princess Elizabeth and her husband on honeymoon (Picture: Central Press/Getty Images)

The newlyweds studying their wedding photographs while on honeymoon in Romsey, Hampshire, November 1947. (Photo by Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Shortly before their wedding, Prince Philip is said to have written to his bride-to-be saying he had ‘fallen in love completely and unreservedly’.

While many will be able to recollect the pair’s devotion to their duties, they had just under five years from their wedding until Elizabeth became queen to be solely devoted to each other and their growing family.

Their post-war wedding took place in front of 2,000 attendees in Westminster Abbey, as well as being broadcast on BBC Radio. What followed was a three week honeymoon split between the house of Lord Mountbatten, Philip’s maternal uncle, and the Balmoral estate – which Elizabeth called ‘heaven’.

The royal couple pose on their wedding day at Buckingham Palace in London (Picture: AFP via Getty Images)

Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh on their wedding day(Picture: Getty Images)

During the second week of married life, Philip wrote in a letter: ‘Very humbly I thank God for Lilibet and for us’. Elizabeth, too, shared with a friend that she was ‘enjoying being married to the best and nicest man in the world’.

While Elizabeth lived life as an heir to the throne, she and Philip – who nicknamed his wife ‘cabbage’ – were able to lead an existence very different to the one they would later inherit.

Philip returned to the Navy and less than a year later, they had a beloved son and now-King, Charles. Although it was a time when fathers were not expected in the delivery room – and trend that remained obeyed by Philip – the doting husband and father did sprint to his wife’s room after a 30-hour labour and gave her a bouquet of carnations roses, while commenting that Charles looked like a ‘plum pudding’.

The baby Prince Charles is seen here in the arms of his mother, the then Princess Elizabeth (Picture: CAMERA PRESS)

Princess Elizabeth with her husband Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh and their baby son Prince Charles, July 1949 (Picture: Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Not long after, in 1949, Philip was stationed in Malta and both he and Elizabeth maintained a home there, with her travelling between there and the UK – where Charles remained – until 1951.

This period, in which the couple welcomed Princess Anne, is frequently referred to as the happiest time of their lives and Malta is the only place outside of the UK that the Queen ever referred to as home.

It’s said that living in Malta provided them an opportunity to avoid the expectations of royal life: Elizabeth could put being a wife first. She was allowed to drive, dance (she was especially fond of the Samba) and pay for things herself – something unheard of for royalty.

It was a life away from journalists, and the couple were able to entertain friends at Villa Guardamangia, where they stayed for the duration.

Princess Elizabeth and her husband Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburghat the Villa Guardamangia in Malta in 1949 (Picture: Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

The special place the island held in their hearts is evident from the visit they made on their 60th wedding anniversary, and it is believed that at Prince Philip’s funeral, the Queen carried a photo of them taken in Malta in her handbag.

As King George VI’s health declined in 1951, the young couple took on some of his duties, completing an international tour of Canada and a visit to Washington D.C.on his behalf. This signalled a significant change in their marriage, with it becoming clearer what would be expected of the soon-to-be Queen – and her husband taking a more backseat role.

Prince Philip later said in an interview that he had ‘no choice. It just happened [and] … I tried to make the best of it’.

Princess Elizabeth with her husband and their children Prince Charles and Princess Anne, August 1951(Picture: Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh on the day of their coronation (Picture: The Print Collector/Getty Images)

Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh and three of their children Prince Charles, Princess Anne, and Prince Andrew pose in the grounds of Balmoral Castle (Picture: AFP /GETTY IMAGES)

Prince Philip and The Queen with their son Prince Charles in 1949 (Picture: Camera Press)

When George VI died in 1952, after succumbing to lung cancer, the pair were on tour in Kenya and immediately returned home to mourn.

That Elizabeth had to ascend the throne at such a young age would have likely come as an unexpected surprise to the couple – after all, her father was only 56 when he died, having become king 16 years before. The three kings before him had been in their 40s and 50s when they were crowned.

It also meant the couple had to give up the life they’d built together in Clarence House, swapping their ‘modest’ home for the gilt and gold of Buckingham Palace.

According to royal biographer Penny Junor it was a step that the Queen was reluctant to make, as she was so fond of their first marital home, however Prime Minister Winston Churchill pushed the couple to make the move to a more stately residence in 1953.

Queen Elizabeth II filming the arrival of the escort ship HMNZS Black Prince as Prince Philip watches on, while in the South Pacific en route to Fiji during the coronation world tour in December 1953 (Picture: Getty Images)

In Ottawa, Prince Philip kisses Queen Elizabeth before she boards a plane for London. (Credits: Bettmann Archive)

A knowing glance between the couple at a state banquet in 1970 (Picture: Getty Images)

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip arriving at the Manoel Theatre in Valleta, Malta, 1967. (Picture: Fox Photos/Getty Images)

The Duke of Edinburgh and Queen Elizabeth II at Balmoral celebrating their Silver Wedding anniversary(Picture: PA)

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip celebrating their 25th silver wedding anniversary at Balmoral, Scotland, November 1972 (Picture: Getty Images)

The Queen And Prince Philip at The Royal Windsor Horse Show in 1982. (Photo by Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images)

Philip perched on his Landrover pointing out out one of the racehorses during a race at the Duke of Beaufort’s estate with The Queen watching through binoculars (Picture: Getty Images)

It was a moment in their lives touched upon by Netflix series The Crown; viewers saw Matt Smith’s Prince Philip left heartbroken by the decision, after the Queen had earlier vowed that they would never move to Buckingham Palace.

While their roles certainly brought unique challenges to their relationship, their love remained absolute. It is believed that even when apart for weeks at a time – as was the case when Philip retired – they spoke on the phone every day.

Private secretary to the Queen, Lord Charteris, remarked that ‘Prince Philip is the only man in the world who treats the Queen simply as another human being’. And after 70 years of marriage, royal biographer Ingrid Seward noted that the Queen’s face still lit up every time her husband entered the room.

The Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip on a visit to Broadlands to mark their Diamond Wedding Anniversary in 2007 (Picture: Tim Graham/Getty Images)

Theirs was a love, companionship and understanding that was often put to the test, but always managed to win out until the ‘peaceful’ death of Prince Philip in April 2021 – around a year and a half before her own.

In an image that will stay with the public for years to come, the Queen – clad in black, with a matching mask – wiped away tears entirely alone at her late husband’s funeral on April 17, while her kingdom endured the heady, fatal heights of a pandemic.

Though her strength prevailed in her reign, it was clear to the public that it the hardships she faced were made easier by having the unwavering love and devotion of the one person who treated her as a human.

Prince Philip and The Queen share a blanket while they attend the Braemar Gathering in September 2015 in Braemar, Scotland (Picture: Getty Images)

Queen Elizabeth II takes her seat during the funeral of Prince Philip (Picture: Jonathan Brady – WPA Pool/Getty Images)

In the British Pathé recording of their wedding, it was said: ‘In the princess, the nation has found all the qualities that merit the confidence of a people that have faith in the crown and its rigid observance of public duty.

‘And when the time comes for her to assume her responsibilities, by her side will be a husband whose counsel will merge with her own for the good of the realm.