Queen Elizabeth II married Prince Philip in a dress bought with post-war ration coupons—and she lost her "strength and stay" 73 years later during the coronavirus pandemic.
Elizabeth first met Philip when she was eight and he was 13 in 1934 and saw each other again four years later in 1939 as the world was beset by crisis.
The queen's governess, Marion Crawford, said the future Monarch was drawn to his "Viking" good looks and turned "pink-faced" on seeing him, according to memoir The Little Princesses.
Elizabeth and Philip kept in touch by letter during World War Two while he fought with the Royal Navy, saving lives through acts of heroism and ultimately being present in Tokyo Bay for the Japanese Surrender in 1945.
They married two years later in 1947, when Elizabeth collected clothing ration coupons to buy the fabric for her dress even as the British economy was saved from flatlining by a U.S. bailout.
The Queen and Prince Philip in Nigeria
The Royal Family website reads: "Due to rationing measures in place following World War Two, Princess Elizabeth had to use clothing ration coupons to pay for her dress.
"Hundreds of people from across the UK sent The Princess their coupons to help with the dress, although they had to be returned as it would be illegal to use them."
They married at Westminster Abbey at 10.30am on November 20, 1947, just four months after getting engaged.
Elizabeth had her first child, Prince Charles, on November 14, 1948, and her second, Princess Anne, in 1950.
However, both their lives changed forever in 1952 when King George VI died and Elizabeth became Queen.
Prince Philip was part of the coronation, at Westminster Abbey in June 1953, though his role for the next 68 years until his death would be either by her side or, famously, a few steps behind her.
They had two more children, Prince Andrew in 1960 and Prince Edward in 1964, with Elizabeth allowing Philip to be the head of the family while she focussed on her role as sovereign.
The queen made her most famous tribute to her husband on their Golden Wedding anniversary in November 1997, just two months after Princess Diana's funeral.
She told a lunch at Banqueting House in London: "All too often, I fear, Prince Philip has had to listen to me speaking. Frequently we have discussed my intended speech beforehand and, as you will imagine, his views have been expressed in a forthright manner.
"He is someone who doesn't take easily to compliments but he has, quite simply, been my strength and stay all these years, and I, and his whole family, and this and many other countries, owe him a debt greater than he would ever claim, or we shall ever know."
Elizabeth lost her "strength and stay" during another period of global upheaval when she herself described being reminded of the war years during which their relationship blossomed by letter.
In 2020, coronavirus hit Britain and the royal couple isolated at Windsor Castle with a scaled down team of staff.
By February 2021, with normality still a distant memory in Britain, Philip was admitted to hospital with an infection and was released after a month in which he had heart surgery.
After he died on April 9, she requested the conventional eight-day period of royal mourning be extended to 14 days, letting the world know the grief had hit her harder than had been expected.
And at the funeral on April 17, the queen mourned alone in keeping with coronavirus protocol at the scaled-down Windsor Castle service attended by 30 guests—the maximum allowed.
On her 95th birthday, days after the funeral, Elizabeth released a message acknowledging the family were going through a period of "great sadness."
She said: "I have, on the occasion of my 95th birthday today, received many messages of good wishes, which I very much appreciate.
"While as a family we are in a period of great sadness, it has been a comfort to us all to see and to hear the tributes paid to my husband, from those within the United Kingdom, the Commonwealth and around the world.
"My family and I would like to thank you all for the support and kindness shown to us in recent days. We have been deeply touched, and continue to be reminded that Philip had such an extraordinary impact on countless people throughout his life."
About the writer
Jack Royston is Newsweek's Chief Royal Correspondent based in London, U.K. He reports on the British royal family—including King Charles ... Read more
