Last weekend, the nation united for a four-day bank holiday filled with joyous celebrations to mark the monarch's Platinum Jubilee.
But as the Queen joined the working royals on the balcony and wave to the people she's served for 70 years, there was one person notably missing - Prince Philip.
The Duke of Edinburgh sadly passed away last year, meaning this was the first Jubilee without him by Her Majesty's side. Today (June 10) would have been his 101st birthday, putting their incredible love story back into the limelight.
According to OK!, the Queen's former press secretary Dickie Arbiter said: "She first fell in love with Philip in 1939 when she met him aged just 13. That was 82 years ago, and he turned out to be the only man in her life."
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However, the couple reportedly kept their engagement hidden for nearly a year.
While their commitment to each other was announced in 1947, it's thought that Philip actually proposed in 1946 at Balmoral - but the King urged them to not break the news until Elizabeth was older.
After the royal family's 1947 tour around South Africa, their engagement was made public and the Duke presented her with a diamond ring he had designed himself, made of stones from his mother's tiara.
The two began their courtship three years before at Christmas when 22-year-old Philip joined the royals at Windsor Castle. Despite only being 17, governess, Marion Crawford said the Queen had already declared Philip was 'The one".
In spite of concerns in the royal circle over Philip's "unpolished" personality - the public very quickly approved of him.
“He was quite a catch,” says former royal butler Paul Burrell. “And the Queen fell in love with him. He was her rock.”
In fact, their relationship wasn't just admired by the public, members of the royal family could easily see the love the two shared.
Speaking to the BBC, Prince Harry said: “From my grandmother’s perspective, to have someone like that on your shoulder for 73 years of marriage… it doesn’t get better than that. The two of them together were just the most adorable couple.”
“Behind what the world sees, you have two individuals who were very much in love. The experiences that they went through; that is an incredible bond between two people.”
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