Elizabeth II, war, love and marriage (part 2)

Philip from Greece returned to London on March 20, 1946 after his mobilization in the Pacific during the war.

In this new episode of the Europe 1 Studio podcast "At the heart of history", Jean des Cars tells you about the marriage and the beginning of married life of those who were then "only" the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh. . 

As Elizabeth celebrates the victory first on the palace balcony and then mingling, with her sister Margaret and a few security officers to the cheering crowd, Philip is far from the UK. 

He is aboard the destroyer HMS Whelt because the war is not over in the Pacific.

It is only on August 15 that Japan will surrender, after the atomic horror on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Philip's ship escorts the battleship USS Missouri where the official surrender of the Empire of the Rising Sun is signed in Tokyo Bay.

The young man did not return to London until March 20, 1946. He had to accomplish a painful formality.

With his faithful friend Mike Parker, he will go to Monaco, where his father, Prince André of Greece, died two years earlier.

Philip was at sea at the time and was unable to attend his funeral.

He will recover his father's personal items, not much in fact: two hairbrushes, cufflinks, trunks filled with clothes, and above all an emblazoned signet ring, which will never leave the little finger of his left hand.

Sad legacy ...

As for her mother, she retired to Athens where she founded an Orthodox religious order, after exemplary conduct during the war during which she hid and protected Jews wanted by the German occupiers.

On his return, Philip will obviously see Lilibeth again.

Everyone is aware of their mutual attraction, but the King of Greece, who has just reclaimed his throne, and Louis Mountbatten have gone too far to support Philip.

They exasperate George VI and even the prince, who only wants things to happen without excess of zeal… It must be said that in the king's entourage, his coat is not very high.

The sovereign's private secretary, Lascelles, found him "rude and without manners".

He didn't go to the right colleges, including Eton.

In addition, he had a few brief female affairs during the war and it is feared that he will become an unfaithful husband ... Philip is however invited to Balmoral in the summer of 1946, and it is there that he will make his asks Elizabeth. 

No one knows how things turned out.

It's their secret.

What we do know, however, is that the king and queen want this marriage proposal to remain secret for a year.

This is not a mark of hostility against Philip, they even fell under his spell!

It's just to enjoy their eldest daughter a little longer and to practice, one last time, the "Us Four", that "Us Four" that they cherish so much ... George VI wants Lilibeth to celebrate her 21st birthday in South Africa, during an official trip by the royal family, scheduled for a year.

The political pretext for this trip is to support the South African authorities before crucial elections that the nationalist party, dominated by the Boers, is likely to win, which would allow the establishment of apartheid.

It is indeed very serious but there is another reason: the king is not well, he is exhausted by his years of war.

A trip by boat to a sunny country would do him the greatest good.

The Princess's First Overseas Trip 

Since July 1945, Churchill is no longer Prime Minister.

Despite all its efforts and results during the war, the Conservatives were defeated.

The new head of government is Labor Clement Attlee.

He is very supportive of this trip to South Africa.

On the other hand, he has just taken a political decision with serious consequences: to grant India its independence.

He asked Lord Louis Mountbatten, who covered himself with glory during the war in the Far East and particularly in Burma, to accept the office of last viceroy of the Indies.

He will be responsible for negotiating the country's independence.

Lord Mountbatten, Dickie for his relatives, and his wife Edwina, invite the royal family to dine at their home in small groups, in the company of Philip, on the eve of their departure for South Africa.

The Mountbattens are also preparing to leave for India.

This dinner will be a kind of confirmation of the unofficial engagement of Lilibeth and Philip ... 

On February 1, 1947, the King, Queen and their two daughters embarked in Portsmouth aboard HMS Vanguard.

The atmosphere is very happy.

We see the princesses in floral dresses playing on the deck with the officers in white Bermuda shorts.

George VI is accompanied by his new squire, very attractive, also in white.

By choosing him, he broke with a tradition that wanted this position to be occupied by an aristocrat.

It is a Royal Air Force fighter pilot, hero of the Battle of Britain, that the king wanted to distinguish.

His name is Peter Townsend.

If Lilibeth is having fun, however, she writes daily to Philip and also receives abundant mail from him. 

It's a long trip of three months.

In Cape Town the tension is high, but in Rhodesia the atmosphere is relaxed.

Picnics, Zulu dances, travel by special train: everything enchants the princesses.

On her 21st birthday, April 21, 1947, Elizabeth gave a speech in Cape Town, addressed to the people of the empire: "I declare before all of you that all my life, whether long or short, will be devoted to your service and in the service of our great Commonwealth family, an empire to which we all belong. "

Four days later, the family heads home.

The biggest princely wedding of the post-war period 

During this trip to South Africa, the Cabinet studied the possibility of granting British nationality to Prince Philip of Greece.

Its surname is that of the Royal House of Denmark, Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg.

Too long and impossible to pronounce!

He will therefore bear the name of his mother, Battenberg anglicized in Mountbatten, as for the members of his English family.

From now on, he will be Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten.

This serious question being decided and a year having passed, the engagement of Elizabeth and Philip is announced, officially, at the gates of Buckingham Palace on July 10, 1947. The date of the marriage is fixed for November 20.

It will be the first major princely wedding after the war.

The list of invitations turns into a puzzle.

We cannot invite the German relatives who took part in the war on the side of the Reich.

No sister of Philip will be present.

As for Uncle David and his dear Wallis, it is out of the question!

Apart from these few ostracisms, it will be a very big ceremony.

Gifts pour in from all over the world, exhibited at the Palace of St. James.

From the thoroughbred offered by the Aga Khan to the doily woven on his loom by Gandhi, there is something for everyone: 1,500 presents in all!

The King and Queen are giving their daughter a double row of pearls, which she wore for her televised speech on May 8, 2020, in tribute to her parents.

Due to economic hardship, you still need coupons to buy fabric.

The princess will wear a sumptuous white satin embroidered dress, made by Norman Hartnell, her mother's couturier.

George VI confers the Order of the Garter on his daughter and son-in-law.

He is, of course, Royal Highness and receives many titles but it is that of Duke of Edinburgh that history will remember.

The day before the wedding, a huge reception brings together all the royal guests, who have come in droves. 

Queen Mary is happy to reunite with all of her old friends, many of whom are dethroned.

We are unleashed on a fashionable dance, the conga, and it is the king, very relaxed, who leads the caterpillar which happily crosses the halls of the palace.

The next day, we took out the state coach which took him and his daughter to Westminster Abbey.

After the ceremony, the vehicle of the newlyweds is cheered along the route and, of course, the newlyweds and the royal family appear on the balcony ...

Of this marriage, Churchill said: "It is a flash of color on the road we must follow."

The wedding breakfast is sumptuous.

At the end of lunch, the princess leaves to change.

Her parents and guests are waiting for the couple and pouring a shower of rose petals on them.

Elizabeth and Philip leave for Waterloo station.

They spend the first part of their honeymoon at Broadlands, the country estate of Lord Louis Mountbatten.

This is where Lilibeth reads the heartbreaking letter from her father: "I was so proud of you and so excited to have you so close to me on this long walk through Westminster Abbey. But when I was gave your hand to the Archbishop, I felt that I had lost something very precious… I watched you grow up during all these years with pride under the wise authority of mom who is, as you know, the most wonderful person in the world in my eyes, and I can, I know, always count on you and now on Philip to help us in our work… I can see that you are sublimely happy with Philip who is perfect, but don't forget us no, this is the wish of your ever devoted and loving daddy. "

A real life as a couple 

On their return from their honeymoon, the young couple first moved to Buckingham Palace.

Philip now works at the Admiralty and leaves every morning for his office.

In May 1948, the Mountbattens made their first official visit to Paris.

They experience a triumph there, from dinner at the Elysée to the evening at the opera.

The bride is pregnant, but no one notices.

On November 14, 1948, at Buckingham Palace, she gave birth to her first child, Charles. 

The following spring, in June 1949, Elizabeth and Philip moved into Clarence House, which had been completely restored for them.

Philip took care of the decoration.

For the first time in his life, he is at home, in a house he has furnished.

That same year, he returned to sea. He was second in command of the flagship of the British fleet in the Mediterranean.

It is no coincidence: his uncle, after having accomplished his difficult mission in India, commands the first squadron of cruisers in the Mediterranean, based in Malta.

Elizabeth leaves to join her husband in November, leaving Charles in London with his nurse.

She is greeted by the Mountbattens and falls under the spell of Dickie, Philip's prestigious uncle.

He's an excellent dancer, too.

Later, Elizabeth will say that she spent the happiest times of her life in Malta.

The Duke's secretary, Michael Parker, said: "We would go swimming, dancing. There were picnics, boat trips, on the beaches, in the caves and on the island of Gozo."

Elizabeth is pregnant again.

She returned to London to give birth on August 15, 1950, at Clarence House, to her second child, Princess Anne.

In September, Philip returns to Malta.

The princess finds him for the end of year celebrations.

The two children are entrusted to their grandparents.

For Elizabeth and Philip, it's a new honeymoon.

They live for them, their life is good, it suits them.

They have few constraints.

They take advantage ... But it will not last.

George VI is ill: Elizabeth must replace him

In July 1951, Elizabeth and Philip left Malta for good to return to London.

Edwina Mountbatten will have this nice word: "We put the bird back in a cage".

This is somewhat true because the reason for their return is the illness of George VI.

This heavy smoker is very thin and coughs a lot.

He does not however give up his forty cigarettes a day. 

On September 7, 1951, he was operated on at Buckingham Palace for a lung tumor.

She is cancerous but we do not tell the king.

The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh are due to replace the royal couple for a visit to Canada scheduled for October.

The Canadian press is critical of the Crown Princess whom she considers not very smiling.

It is obviously the state of health of her father that concerns her.

She will make an effort to dance with Philip a traditional Square Dance and win the hearts of Canadians.

The couple return in time to spend the holidays at Sandringham with the family.

But George VI is exhausted.

The recording of his traditional Christmas message is an ordeal.

Elizabeth is now totally in the service of the crown.

The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh replace the King and his wife on a long journey that takes them to Kenya, then to Australia and New Zealand.

Once again, they leave their children for many months.

When they left London on January 31, 1952, George VI accompanied his daughter and son-in-law on the tarmac.

In a photo, we see him very emaciated, marked by illness, making a long farewell gesture to his daughter.

They won't meet again.

On the morning of February 6, 1952, after a night in a room in a giant Kenyan fig tree, at the Sagana Lodge, the couple was informed, by telegram, of the king's death: "His Majesty died of cancer in his sleep. of the pleura ".

Elizabeth is devastated and Philip, who broke the news to her, is devastated.

His wife has become queen.

Their life will never be the same.

They will now carry the weight of the crown.

Bibliographic resources: 

Sarah Bradford, Elizabeth II (Penguin Books, new edition 2002)

William Shawcross, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother (Pan Books, 2009)

Sarah Bradford, George VI (Penguin Books, 1989)

Jean des Cars, Elizabeth II, the Queen (Perrin, 2018)

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"At the heart of history" is a Europe 1 Studio podcast

Author and presentation: Jean des Cars

Production, distribution and edition: Timothée Magot

Director: Matthieu Blaise

Graphics: Karelle Villais