A Timeline of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philipâs Relationship Before Marriage
JanuaryâApril 1940: Philip spent four months serving as a midshipman on HMS Ramillies. His captain, Vice Admiral Harold Tom Baillie-Grohman, noted a conversation he had with the Prince during their time at sea: âPhilip said, âMy Uncle Dickie has ideas for me; he thinks I could marry Princess Elizabeth.â I was a bit taken aback, and, after a hesitation asked him: âAre you really fond of her?â âOh yes, very,â was the reply and âI write to her every week.ââ At the time Philip was 18 and Elizabeth 14 in April.
Christmas 1940: Philip sent Elizabeth a Christmas card from Athens.
21 January 1941: Diarist Henry âChipsâ Channon noted after talking to Philipâs aunt, Princess Nicholas of Greece: âHe is to be our Prince Consort, and that is why he is serving in our navy.â
3 April 1941: The princesses were talking about Philip. When Alathea Fitzalan Howard, their friend, asked who Philip was, Princess Elizabeth said that he was her âboyâ.š
June 1941: In Cape Town, Philipâs cousin Alexandra disturbed him writing a letter to Princess Elizabeth and teased him, âbut sheâs only a babyâ. She thought he was angling for invitations to stay with her family.
23 October 1941: Princess Elizabeth told Alathea that Philip, her beau, had been for the weekend.²
3 July 1942: Princess Elizabeth scribbled on a piece paper to Alathea that Philip was coming for the weekend.Âł
1943: Elizabeth sent her cousin Margaret Elphinstone a letter which says: âItâs so exciting. Mummy says that Philip can come and stay when he gets leave.â This probably refers to the December 1943 stay at Windsor.
18 December 1943: Philip attended the pantomime Aladdin at Windsor Castle. He stayed the weekend and returned to spend Christmas with the royal family.
At Sandringham in January 1946 Queen Mary told her lady-in-waiting, Mabell, Countess of Airlie: âThey have been in love for the last eighteen months. In fact longer, I think. I believe she fell in love with him the first time he went down to Windsor.â This dates the romance from Philipâs two visits in December 1943.
4 February 1944: Following a meeting with Philip, Victoria wrote to Dickie, then in India as Supreme Allied Commander of South East Asia: âAs he has not touched on the subject you spoke about to me with reference to his future, I also refrain from doing so.ââ´
March 1944: George II of Greece raised the subject of his cousin Philipâs engagement to Elizabeth with her father. George VI felt his daughter was too young and wrote to his mother Queen Mary: âWe are going to tell George that P. had better not think any more about it at present.â
2 April 1944: Victoria wrote to Dickie once again: âI touched on the subject on which you gave him advice, but he was not inclined to confide in me, so I did not press him. There are no developments at present in the situation. He is, however, fully aware that he must give it careful consideration.ââľ
10 June 1944: Alice mentioned in a letter to Philip: âThrough Ellen I heard you stayed with Marina about Easter and paid an interesting visit, as well as lunching with a certain young lady & her parents before you left.ââś
8 July 1944: Philip watched NoĂŤl Cowardâs This Happy Breed film with the Royal Family at Windsor Castle.âˇ
23 July 1944: After a subsequent visit to Windsor, Philip told the Queen how much he loved being with them â âIt is the simple enjoyment of family pleasures and amusements and the feeling that I am welcome to share them. I am afraid I am not capable of putting all this into the right words and I am certainly incapable of showing you the gratitude I feel.ââ¸
Early August 1944: Mountbatten meets George VI to discuss Philip taking British citizenship and his possible marriage to Elizabeth.
10 August 1944: George VI writes to Mountbatten: âI have come to the conclusion that we are going too fast,â and asks Mountbatten to limit discussions to the question of citizenship only.
24 August 1944: Lord Mountbatten met Philip and George II of Greece in Cairo in part to talk about Philip taking British citizenship and his possible marriage. âHad very satisfactory discussionsâ, noted Mountbatten in his journal.
27 October 1944: Diarist âChipsâ Channon visited Princess Marina of Kent at Coppins. âAs I signed the visitorsâ book I noticed âPhilipâ written constantly. It is at Coppins that he sees Princess Elizabeth. I think she will marry him.â
February 1945: Elizabeth, approaching her nineteenth birthday, reported to her cousin, Diana: âI am now the proud possessor of a very large photograph of Philip, which stands on the mantelpiece and glowers at me. I had to go through a lot of ragging when it arrived â though I admit Mummy said, âHe is a good-looking boyâ, at which I agreed! I am sure all the housemaids at Sandringham looked at the photograph and said, âOoh! I wonder who that is?âââš
15 February 1945: Princess Margaret told Alathea that Philip sent Elizabeth a photograph of himself for Christmas and she danced round the room with it for joy.šâ°
2 March 1945: Tommy Lascelles, private secretary to George VI, writes to the Home Office to find out âwhat steps would have to be taken to enable Prince Philip of Greece ⌠to become a British subjectâ, adding, âat an appropriate timeâ.
12 July 1945: Alathea Fitzalan Howard noticed a large unsigned photograph of Philip on Princess Elizabethâs mantelpiece.šš
September 1945: Philip wrote to his uncle, Lord Louis Mountbatten: âPlease, I beg you, not too much advice in an affair of the heart, or I shall be forced to do the wooing by proxy.âš²
October 1945: Prime Minister Clement Attlee suggested the question of Philipâs naturalisation should be put off until the following year in case it had repercussions on relations with Greece, where civil war was raging and the restoration of the monarchy was as yet uncertain.
1945: Philipâs cousin Princess Alexandra of Greece lived near Windsor and âused to see them holding hands, disengaging themselves sometimes until we came closer and they could see it was only usâ.
1945: David Milford Haven told his ex-girlfriend, Robin Dalton, âPhilip was definitely planning to marry Elizabeth one day.âš³
1946: When Philip was assigned to H.M.S. Glendower, he used to write his letters at a local hotel and address them boldly to âH.R.H. Princess Elizabeth, Buckingham Palace.â There was none of the subterfuge for him of letters addressed to an intermediary. And he simply gave them to the night porter to mail.šâ´
January 1946: George VI gave Philip a lift from London to Windsor for his reunion with Elizabeth on his return from the Far East.
1 April 1946: Philip is among a party of six accompanying Elizabeth to see The Hasty Heart at the Aldwych Theatre, London.
Late April 1946: Philip tells his younger sister Sophie that âhe was thinking about getting engagedâ and that âUncle Dickie was being helpfulâ.
29 May 1946: Elizabeth and Philip were photographed together following the wedding of Elizabethâs cousin Andrew Elphinstone to Jean Hambro, although the newspapers didnât speculate on the relationship.
1946: John Dean, valet to Lord Mountbatten, âhad only one piece of evidence to go onâ that an engagement was in the pipeline: âWhenever Prince Philip brought a week-end bag, and I unpacked it, I always found a small photograph in a battered frame â a photograph of Princess Elizabeth.â
1946: Philip spoke to his longtime friend Georgina Kennard about Princess Elizabeth before they were engaged, âI think we could do a lot together.âšâľ
12 June 1946: Philip apologised to Queen Elizabeth for his âmonumental cheekâ in inviting himself to the palace. He told her a voice inside his head said, âânothing ventured, nothing gained,â â well I did venture and I gained a wonderful time.â
5 September 1946: Philip was part of the royal party accompanying the King, Queen and the two princesses to the Braemar Games. It was the wettest gathering in memory and an audience of 20,000 received a thorough soaking in the open stands.
8 September 1946: The King, Queen and Princess Margaret drove to Crathie Church. Princess Elizabeth was confined her apartments with âa slight coldâ while Prince Philip walked the half-mile route to the kirk with Queen Elizabethâs brother Michael Bowes Lyon, past waiting crowds of onlookers and photographers.
9 September 1946: A rumour of an impending engagement between Elizabeth and Philip had been circulating in London, fuelled by a piece suggesting it in the London Star. The newspapers on the 9th reported that the Kingâs private secretary, Tommy Lascelles, had announced from Buckingham Palace: âPrincess Elizabeth is not engaged to be married. The report published is not true.â
Then, as now, an official palace denial of an engagement is usually concrete proof that one is on the cards. Although the world and many outside the immediate family had no idea that inâŚ
September 1946: The couple became unofficially engaged at Balmoral.
13 September 1946: Philip left Balmoral Castle after a three-week stay.
14 September 1946: After he left Balmoral, the Prince wrote an exuberant letter to the Queen: âI am sure I do not deserve all the good things which have happened to me. To have been spared in the war and seen victory, to have been given the chance to rest and re-adjust myself, to have fallen in love completely and unreservedly, makes all oneâs personal and even the worldâs troubles seem small and petty.âšâś
26 October 1946: âIt was my wedding which really put the cat amongst the pigeons,â recalled Patricia, Countess Mountbatten. âThe Princess was a bridesmaid, and Philip was an usher. The newsreel cameras captured him helping her to take off her coat and although none of us thought anything of it on the day, it was the first intimation that there might be something interesting between the two of them.â
January 1947: Philip wrote to Dickie about the impact his uncleâs attitude might have on Elizabeth: âI am not being rude, but it is apparent that you like the idea of being the General Manager of this little show and I am rather afraid that she might not take to the idea as docilely as I do.âšâˇ
28 January 1947: Just before the familyâs departure, Philip came to say goodbye and then wrote to the Queen to thank her for a remark she had made to him that day. âI can only take it that you referred to Elizabeth when you said that my fate âwas in someone elseâs handsâ. It was the most heartening thing you could have said to keep my spirits up while you are away.âšâ¸
23 May 1947: Mountbatten noted in his diary, âSaw [Queen] Elizabeth re Philip.â The following day he wrote: âPhilip and I talked about Lilibet.â
11 June 1947: After the Royal Familyâs return from South Africa, Philip wrote to Queen Elizabeth to tell her that he and Princess Elizabeth wanted to start their new life together.šâš
20 June 1947: Alice took some of her diamonds to the jeweller Philip Antrobus at 6 Old Bond Street and had these designed as an engagement ring, a large diamond in the middle, surrounded by a cluster of five smaller stones, âas Philip dare not show his face at jewellers, for fear of being recognized. I think the ring is a great successâ, Alice wrote to Lord Mountbatten.²â°
25 June 1947: Alathea Fitzalan Howard wrote in her diary: âSonia told me that Princess Eâs engagement is imminent and that the wedding is fixed for the autumn. This is a dead secret and I couldnât ask her more, but I suppose she heard this through the Wernhers. She says he has kissed her and the ring is already bought.Ⲛ
7 July 1947: âShe has known him ever since she was 12,â wrote the still-worried Queen to her sister May âvery secretlyâ (underlined in black and red). âI think she is really fond of him, and I do pray that she will be very happy.â²²
8 July 1947: It was the ring that timed events. As soon as he knew it was ready, Philip rang up Elizabeth and later spoke to King George VI. That night, he went to the Palace for dinner but walked up to Elizabethâs sitting room first. When they entered the dining room together, her right hand covered the fingers of her left hand. âItâs too big,â Elizabeth laughed, as she showed it to them.²³
9 July 1947: The engagement of Elizabeth and Philip was announced.
š The Windsor Diaries: A Childhood with the Princesses by Alathea Fitzalan Howard
â´ Alice: Princess Andrew of Greece by Hugo Vickers
⡠The Windsor Diaries: A Childhood with the Princesses by Alathea Fitzalan Howard
⸠The Queen Mother: The Official Biography by William Shawcross
âš Philip: The Final Portrait by Gyles Brandreth
šⰠThe Windsor Diaries: A Childhood with the Princesses by Alathea Fitzalan Howard
š² Philip & Elizabeth: Portrait of a Royal Marriage by Gyles Brandreth
šⴠPrince Philip: A Family Portrait by Alexandra, Queen of Yugoslavia
š⾠Philip & Elizabeth: Portrait of a Royal Marriage by Gyles Brandreth
š✠The Queen Mother: The Official Biography by William Shawcross
š⡠Philip & Elizabeth: Portrait of a Royal Marriage by Gyles Brandreth
š⸠The Queen Mother: The Official Biography by William Shawcross
²ⰠAlice: Princess Andrew of Greece by Hugo Vickers
²š The Windsor Diaries: A Childhood with the Princesses by Alathea Fitzalan Howard
²² The Queen by Robert Lacey
²³ Prince Philip: A Family Portrait by Alexandra, Queen of Yugoslavia
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