The Queen and Prince Philip mark 73rd wedding anniversary with touching new photo

The newly-released image shows the monarch and her husband with an anniversary card from their great grandchildren, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis
Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh in the Oak Room at Windsor CastleChris Jackson / Buckingham Palace / PA Media

While many of us are separated from loved ones during the second lockdown, it’s a blessing that the Queen and her husband, Prince Philip, will be together for their 73rd wedding anniversary this year – an event which has been marked with a touching new photo.

The image was released on the evening of 19 November, ahead of the couple’s anniversary on 20 November. In the photograph, the royal couple can be seen looking relaxed and happy as they read anniversary cards while seated on a sofa.

A press release from Royal Communications announced: ‘A photograph has been released to mark the 73rd wedding anniversary of The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh on 20th November 2020.

In the photograph Her Majesty and His Royal Highness are seen looking at an anniversary card made by Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, alongside other cards and letters sent by well-wishers.’

The candid moment was captured by photographer Chris Jackson in the Oak Room at Windsor Castle earlier this week.

The royal pair were married on 20 November 1947, in a glittering ceremony at Westminster Abbey in London. The Queen was then Princess Elizabeth, the eldest daughter of King George VI and heir to the British throne, while Philip Mountbatten, a former Greek and Danish prince, was made Duke of Edinburgh, Earl of Merioneth and Baron Greenwich on the morning of their wedding.

The Queen famously used ration coupons to buy the material for her wedding gown, which was designed by Norman Hartnell (the same designer who created the vintage dress borrowed from the Queen by Princess Beatrice, for her own wedding this summer). Complete with all the pomp and ceremony befitting such an occasion – such as carriage processions and a bridal party of eight bridesmaids – the ceremony was recorded and broadcast by BBC Radio to 200 million people across the globe.

Having known each other since the Queen was 13, the couple’s relationship has certainly stood the test of time. On their Golden wedding anniversary in 1997, the Queen said of her husband: ‘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.’

The Queen and Prince Philip’s enduring love story in pictures
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