Yahoo News The Queen and Prince Philip’s 72nd wedding anniversary: 17 things you didn’t know about the royal couple
While she may be the UK’s longest-reigning monarch, the Queen and her husband Prince Philip have always been notoriously private.
Today, the pair will mark their 72nd wedding anniversary – an incredible feat – but it’s the early years of their relationship that has taken the spotlight again after Netflix released season three of The Crown this past Sunday.
Despite this fictional insight, the pair's courtship and subsequent marriage is steeped in mystery – only allowing the public to see what they want them to see.
Below is 17 things you might not know about the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh.
1. Prince Philip gave up smoking the morning of their wedding
According to his valet, John Dean, Philip stopped smoking the morning of their wedding ‘suddenly and apparently without difficulty’ as he knew how much the Queen hated it.
2. The Queen is believed to have met more people than anyone else
When it’s your job to meet people and you’ve been doing this job your entire life, it’s no wonder the Queen has met so many people.
3. They both do not vote in elections
This is so they do not influence public opinion.
4. There are specific rules when the Queen is on the Royal Train
When the Queen is travelling on the Royal Train, it is not allowed to go over bumpy tracks at 7:30am as this is when she has her bath.
5. Prince Philip was born on a kitchen table
He was born on the kitchen table of the Greek royals' summer home in Corfu at villa Mon Repos.
6. While Prince Charles was being born, Philip was playing squash
Of his baby son he said: "He looks like a plum pudding!"
7. The Queen is given breakfast in Tupperware containers
Every morning, her breakfast table is laid with porridge oats and cornflakes in Tupperware containers, yoghurt and two types of marmalade.
8. The Queen was ahead of the times
She sent her first email in 1976 from an army base.
9. Prince Philip was the first member of the Royal Family to do a TV interview
He was interviewed by Richard Dimbleby in 1961 about his involvement in Commonwealth Technical Training Week.
10. They are both great-great-grandchildren of Queen Victoria
Yes, this means they are fourth cousins.
11. Prince Philip has pet names for the Queen
They are said to be ‘cabbage’ and ‘mon petit chou’.
12. The Queen’s wedding ring is made from Welsh gold
The nugget of gold used for the ring comes from Clogau St David’s mine near Dolgellau.
13. The couple are thought to have had a public spat
During the 1954 tour of Australia, the pair reportedly had a heated row where the Queen threw a shoe at Philip. The footage was apparently caught on camera but was given to the Queen and never aired.
14. For their fifth wedding anniversary, the Duke designed a bracelet
The gold, diamond, sapphire and ruby bracelet included interlocking links of Es and Ps.
15. The Queen does her own washing up
Former Prime Minister Tony Blair said: “You sit there having eaten, the Queen asks if you’ve finished, she stacks the plates up and goes off to the sink.”
16. The Queen does not have a passport
She is also the only person in the country who can drive without a licence or registration plates.
17. Prince Philip wrote a letter to the Queen’s mother before their wedding
In it he said how he had ‘fallen in love completely and unreservedly’ with Elizabeth.
He added: “The only thing in this world which is absolutely real to me, and my ambition, is to weld the two of us into a new combined existence that will not only be able to withstand the shocks directed at us but will also have a positive existence for the good.”
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Royals celebrate Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip's 72nd anniversary
