06 MAR 2024
A tribute & memorial website to honour​ - Lord Louis MOUNTBATTEN, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma
20 NOV 2017
ROYAL PLATINUM WEDDING ANNIVERSARY
70th Anniversary of the wedding of HM The Queen & Prince Philip
Today, Queen Elizabeth II (1926(1952- ) and Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh (b.1921) celebrate their Platinum Wedding Anniversary (70yrs) - not only the first time a reigning Sovereign had reached this milestone but historically the first Royal couple ever, a record unlikely to reoccur.
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A photographic portrait of Queen Elizabeth II
& Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh
(from a series of taken by Matt Holyoak)
to commemorate their
Platinum wedding anniversary
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Later today, a private dinner will be held for 150 guests within the State Apartments in Windsor Castle. Amongst the invited guests are the last two surviving bridesmaids at the wedding in 1947: The Lady Pamela Hicks (b.1929) - Mountbatten's youngest daughter; and Princess Alexandra, The Hon. Lady Ogilvy (b.1936) - a granddaughter of King George V (1865(1910-1936) whose mother was also Prince Philip's cousin.
Other relatives who are scheduled to attend will include Prince Philip's nephews - Maximilian, The Margrave of Baden (b.1933) and Prince Ludwig of Baden (b.1937); Crown Prince Alexander of Yugoslavia (b.1945) - one of The Queen's god-sons and also her third cousin, whose mother - Princess Alexandra of Greece & Denmark, later Queen Alexandra of Yugoslavia (1921-1993) was a second cousin to The Duke. The dinner will be followed by entertainment, where the actress Miss Joanna Lumley (b.1946) will be the 'Master of Ceremonies'.
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To commemorate the occasion, Buckingham Palace have released several semi-informal photographs of The Queen & The Duke, taken by the celebrity portrait and fashion British photographer - Anthony Holyoak (b.1975). The Royal couple made it known that they decided that they wished to celebrate their 70th wedding anniversary privately and unlike their Diamond Wedding anniversary in 2007, there would be no public Service of Thanksgiving or national event. However at 1pm on 20th November 2017, the bells of Westiminster Abbey - where the Royal couple were married in 1947, rang out a full peal of over 5,000 changes, which lasted nearly three hours.
To see a brief news report about the Royal Platinum Wedding Anniversary - click HERE
Later, it was announced that The Queen appointed her husband a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (GCVO) and awarded him the insignia in private at Windsor Castle, where the Royal couple spent the day. The appointment of the honour means that The Duke will be able to wear 4 stars of British orders, which his uncle - Mountbatten was the last person to be so entitled.
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ABOVE: The insignia of a Knight Grand Cross
of the Royal Victorian Order (GCVO)
BELOW: The reverse of the Royal Mint's
£5 coin to commemorate the
Platinum wedding anniversary
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