Updated Nov. 20, 2023 at 12:10 p.m.
Princess Elizabeth and Prince Phillip tied the knot in a royal wedding in 1947 that sealed the couple together for more than 70 years, including Queen Elizabeth's record-setting reign.
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When did Elizabeth and Phillip marry?
On Nov. 20, 1947, the bells of Westminster Abbey could be heard ringing all over London as Elizabeth and Philip celebrated their wedding. Two thousand guests attended the ceremony, which was radio broadcast by the BBC to over 200 million people around the world.
Then-princess Elizabeth was just 13 years old when she fell in love with Philip Mountbatten, a former prince of Greece and Denmark, five years her senior. The two exchanged letters for years until getting engaged secretly in 1946.
In order to become her husband, Philip adopted his maternal grandparents’ surname and gave up his titles. He would later be known as Prince Philip Mountbatten, Duke of Edinburgh. Queen Elizabeth II spent almost her entire 70-year reign with Prince Philip by her side, until he died in April of 2021.
Were Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip blood related?
Prince Philip was Queen Victoria’s great-great-grandson through his maternal side, and Elizabeth was related to the same queen through her paternal family. Elizabeth's father, King George VI, was a great-grandson of Queen Victoria, making the couple third cousins.
