See all the records Queen Elizabeth broke in 70 years on the throne 1:34
(CNN) --
When Elizabeth of York met Prince Philip, she was not destined to be queen.
She was seven years old and was the maid of honor for her aunt, Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark, at her wedding to the Duke of Kent at Westminster Abbey.
Felipe, 12, was attending as the bride's first cousin.
The children barely spoke to each other, but foreign newspapers had already cast Prince Philip as a suitable husband for the little princess, as her third cousin through Queen Victoria.
When they met again five years later, in 1939, everything had changed.
Elizabeth's uncle, Edward VIII, had abdicated three years earlier.
Her father was now the king and she the heir to the throne.
Felipe was an 18-year-old naval cadet.
And Europe was on the brink of World War II.
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"How high he can jump!" Elizabeth told her governess, Marion Crawford, in July 1939, when she saw Philip jump over the tennis nets at the Royal Naval College in Dartmouth.
Isabel had led a very sheltered life with her family, spending most of her time with her sister and her governess.
Visiting the school with her parents and her sister, she was dazzled by the star cadet, who would soon go on active duty.
Elizabeth's fascination was obvious to all and very gratifying to Philip's uncle, Dickie Mountbatten, who hoped to foster a marriage... with himself as the power behind the throne.
When the royal party left Dartmouth in the royal yacht, all the cadets followed in their little boats, until the king ordered them back to shore.
They all did as they were told, except Felipe, who kept rowing with all his might while Isabel watched him through binoculars.
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The day Elizabeth of York met Philip, her destiny was not to be queen.
She was 7 years old and the lady-in-waiting of her aunt, Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark, who married the Duke of Kent at Westminster Abbey.
Felipe, 12 years old, attended as the bride's first cousin.
When they met again five years later, in 1939, everything had changed.
Elizabeth was heir to the throne, since her father took over as king after her uncle abdicated the crown.
Felipe was an 18-year-old cadet.
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Prince Philip of Greece plays cricket in 1939 while studying at Gordonstoun, a boarding school in Scotland.
"How high can he jump!" Elizabeth told her governess, Marion Crawford, in July 1939 when she saw Philip leaping over the tennis nets at the Royal Naval College in Dartmouth.
(Credit: ullstein bild/Getty Images)
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Princess Elizabeth poses with a pony in Windsor Great Park on her 13th birthday on April 21, 1939. (Credit: Central Press/Getty Images)
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The royal family arrives at the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth in 1939. From left to right are Prince Philip, Princess Margaret, Queen Elizabeth, King George VI and Princess Elizabeth.
The latter would be dazzled by the young Marine cadet during this visit.
(Credit: Keystone/Getty Images)
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During the war, Felipe wrote to Isabel and visited her at Christmas 1943. Isabel was 17 years old and a young woman.
She seemed very attractive to him.
At the end of the war, Philip courted her with serious intentions, taking her to concerts and restaurants or dining in her nursery with Princess Margaret (Credit: AFP via Getty Images)
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Prince Philip is pictured in December 1946, when he was serving as a lieutenant in the Royal Navy.
(Credit: Press Association/AP)
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Princess Elizabeth, now heir to the throne, in her drawing room at Buckingham Palace in July 1946. (Credit: Lisa Sheridan/Studio Lisa/Getty Images)
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Isabel and Felipe walk together.
She had decided on Felipe since she was 13 years old and the war had only intensified the romance.
(Credit: Popperfoto/Getty Images)
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Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip in their role as maid of honor and companion during the wedding of Patricia Mountbatten and Lord Brabourne, in 1946. Philip was the bride's cousin.
(Credit: AP)
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A beaming Elizabeth and her fiancé Philip are pictured together at Buckingham Palace in July 1947, after their engagement was announced.
(Credit: Topical Press Agency/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
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Elizabeth and Philip walk down the aisle at Westminster Abbey on their wedding day, Nov. 20, 1947. Credit: (Bert Hardy/Picture Post/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
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Wedding portrait of the royal couple.
(Credit: ullstein bild/Getty Images)
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Isabel and Felipe spend their honeymoon in Malta, where he is assigned to the Royal Navy.
(Credit: Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
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A family portrait in 1951, after Isabel and Felipe had Carlos in 1948 and Ana in 1950. (Credit: Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone/Getty Images)
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Isabel and Felipe visit a national park in Kenya in February 1952. (Credit: AFP/Getty Images)
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At Treetops Game Lodge, Princess Elizabeth learns of her father's death.
(Credit: NCJ Archive/Mirrorpix/Getty Images)
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Elizabeth, now Queen, and Philip return to Britain after leaving their tour of Kenya, following the news of King George's death.
(Credit: AP)
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Queen Elizabeth II and Philip greet the public from the balcony of Buckingham Palace on the day of her coronation in June 1953. (Credit: Press Association / AP)
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Prince Philip sits next to the queen as she reads a speech to members of the Canadian Parliament in 1957. (Credit: Paul Popper/Popperfoto/Getty Images)
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Anne, Charles, Edward and Andrew pose with their parents at Balmoral Castle in Scotland during the royal family's annual summer vacation.
(Credit: Lichfield/Getty Images)
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Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip during their visit to New Zealand in 1977. (Credit: Serge Lemoine/Getty Images)
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Queen Elizabeth II has lunch with Prince Philip and their children, Princess Anne and Prince Charles at Windsor Castle in Berkshire, circa 1969. A camera (left) is positioned to record the BBC documentary Royal Family ', by Richard Cawston.
The production followed the royal family for a year and was broadcast on June 21, 1969. (Credit: Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
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The queen and Philip fly back from Yorkshire.
This photo was taken during the filming of the documentary.
(Credit: Bettmann Archive/Getty Images)
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Prince Philip walks behind the coffin of Diana, Princess of Wales, alongside Prince William, Earl Spencer, Prince Harry and Prince Charles, in September 1997. (Credit: Anwar Hussein/WireImage/Getty Images
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The Queen and Prince Philip look at some of the many tributes to Diana left by the public.
(Credit: Pool/AP)
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Queen Elizabeth, accompanied by Prince Philip, delivers a speech in both houses of Parliament to mark her 60th year on the British throne, in March 2012. (Credit: Kirsty Wigglesworth / Pool / AP)
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Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh hold hands as they attend the state opening of Parliament on December 3, 2008 in London, England.
(Credit: Anwar Hussein Collection/Pool/WireImage/Getty Images)
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The Queen and Prince Philip walk back to Buckingham together after hosting a party in June 2011. (Credit: Matt Dunham/WPA Pool/Getty Images)
Philip and his family had fled Greece when he was a baby.
The family settled in Paris, but it disintegrated.
His mother was committed to an insane asylum and his father had mistresses.
Philip was sent to boarding schools and flourished in Gordonstoun, Scotland, before going to Dartmouth.
Without parents, he was very close to his sisters, but his favorite, Cecile, died in a plane crash when she was eight months pregnant.
The others were married to German officers, which placed Felipe and his family on opposite sides of the war.
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Isabel, determined to marry Felipe from a very young age
During the war Philip wrote to Elizabeth and traveled to Britain for Christmas 1943. Elizabeth was 17 years old and a young woman.
Felipe found her very attractive.
She was not only attractive and witty, but also cheerful and practical, very different from her fragile mother.
At the end of the war, Felipe began to court Elizabeth with serious intentions and took her to concerts and restaurants, and dined with her in the nursery with Princess Margaret.
The Palace had doubts about the match.
The kings wanted her to "see more of the world" before marrying, and courtiers spoke of Philip being "no gentleman", "moody" and possibly fickle: he signed the guest books as "without a fixed address".
Everyone distrusted his conniving uncle, Dickie Mountbatten.
The government was obsessed with his background: as one courtier put it, "it all boiled down to one word, 'German'."
Isabel refused to be influenced.
From the age of 13 she was determined by Felipe and the war only intensified the romance.
The king relented and the engagement was announced on July 8, 1947, with the wedding date set for November 20.
Philip became a British citizen, took the surname Mountbatten from his maternal grandparents, and was created Duke of Edinburgh.
It was feared that a country mired in post-war recession would not look favorably on a lavish wedding.
But Winston Churchill chose magnificence, calling it "a flash of color on the hard road we have to travel."
Royal guests came from around the world to see the princess marry in a silk gown embroidered with 10,000 pearls.
Among those not invited were Philip's three sisters with their German husbands, and the Duke of Windsor, the former Edward VIII, and his wife Wallis Simpson.
Wedding portrait of the royal couple.
(Credit: ullstein bild/Getty Images)
That day, in Westminster Abbey, Princess Elizabeth took her vows and promised to obey her husband, something that would be technically impossible when she was queen.
However, the battles had only just begun.
Philip was used to an active life and resented the Admiralty clerical job he had been assigned.
The couple's first two children, Carlos and Anne, were born in 1948 and 1950 and the family settled in Clarence House, where Felipe was in charge of the renovations.
Felipe was stationed in Malta and Isabel was going to visit him for periods of months.
There, Isabel was free to simply be the wife of an officer, away from the spotlight.
The death of George VI, a shock earlier than expected
In early 1952, Isabel and Felipe embarked on a journey through Kenya.
They started with a retreat at "Treetops", a lodge over a watering hole in Aberdare National Park.
On the night of February 9, 1952, George VI died in his sleep.
After the news reached the royal staff, Philip told his wife that his beloved father had died, and they returned to London.
The death of the king was a terrible shock for both Elizabeth and Philip.
The king had been in poor health for years, despite still being a relatively young man of 56.
Elizabeth and Philip had looked forward to many more years of relative freedom.
Now Philip was the queen's husband and everything changed.
A family portrait in 1951, after Isabel and Felipe had Carlos in 1948 and Ana in 1950. (Credit: Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone/Getty Images)
The family had to move from Clarence House to the less intimate Buckingham Palace.
Philip had to give up his naval function.
And Elizabeth's grandmother, Queen Mary, was devoted to the royal surname.
Philip had believed his wife's name to be his own, Mountbatten, and his Uncle Dickie had made reckless boasts about the Royal House of Mountbatten.
But Winston Churchill and Queen Mary were determined: the surname should remain Windsor.
Felipe's heart was broken: "I'm nothing more than a damn amoeba."
By the time her youngest children—Andrew in 1960 and Edward in 1964—were born, the queen had issued an order that any male offspring who did not hold the title of prince or royal highness be "Mountbatten-Windsor."
It was a small victory.
Felipe's efforts to gain a larger role were met with prejudice.
There was resistance to his chairing the Elizabeth Coronation Commission and his efforts to create a system of service awards, the Duke of Edinburgh Awards, were greeted with a ghastly derision by one minister, saying it sounded "like the Hitler Youth".
However, with patience, hard work, and his continued dedication to helping and supporting the queen in her duties, Prince Philip earned the respect and affection of the government and the people alike.
Philip had a keen interest in technology and was the first royal to be interviewed on television, when he discussed youth learning on the BBC's Panorama with Richard Dimbleby in 1961. Philip was also involved in "Royal Family", a documentary aired in 1969 that captivated the nation by showing the family in their home, including shots of Felipe grilling sausages.
Felipe was a patron of more than 800 organizations and, like his grandchildren, he was especially concerned about wildlife and the environment: he was president of the World Wide Fund for Nature from 1961 to 1982.
The Duke was especially fond of the younger royals and many will poignantly remember him for supporting his grandchildren, William and Harry, as they walked the streets of London behind the coffin of their mother, Diana, Princess of Wales. before his funeral in September 1997.
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The monarchy's popularity hit rock bottom after Diana's death, but when the Queen's Diamond Jubilee rolled around in 2012, the British public's enthusiasm for the royal family was evident in celebrations across the country.
With ups and downs, the duke was the inseparable companion of the queen.
She was the longest-married monarch and the duke was the world's longest-living consort.
At the time of his death in April 2021, at the age of 99, he had lived longer than any other descendant of Queen Victoria.
She would outlive him by less than 18 months.
This active and intelligent man did not always find it easy to walk a step behind the queen.
But, as Prince William put it, he "completely put aside her personal career to support her, and he never takes center stage from her."
The duke accepted the challenge with grace and dignity and never left the queen's side, seeing his great role as assisting her.
As the queen said in her Diamond Jubilee speech in 2012, he was her "constant strength and guide."
Queen isabel II