Elizabeth and Philip are second cousins once removed (by descent from Christian IX of Denmark and Louise of Hesse-Kassel) and third cousins (by descent from Queen Victoria and Prince Albert). Elizabeth met Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark in 1934, at the wedding of Philip's cousin Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark to Prince George, Duke of Kent, paternal uncle of Elizabeth, and again in 1937. After another meeting at the Royal Naval College in Dartmouth in July 1939, Elizabeth—though only 13 years old—fell in love with Philip and they began to exchange letters. An entry in Chips Channon's diary made reference to the future marriage of Elizabeth and Philip as early as 1941, "He is to be our Prince Consort, and that is why he is serving in our Navy." The couple became secretly engaged in 1946, when Philip asked King George VI for his daughter's hand in marriage. The King granted his request providing any formal engagement was delayed until Elizabeth's 21st birthday the following April. Their engagement was officially announced on 9 July 1947.
The King gave his formal consent to the marriage in his British Privy Council, in accordance with the Royal Marriages Act 1772. The same was done in Canada at a meeting of the King's Canadian Privy Council, with the Chief Justice, Thibaudeau Rinfret, standing in as deputy to the King's representative, the Governor General of Canada.
Before the marriage, Philip renounced his Greek and Danish titles, converted from Greek Orthodoxy to Anglicanism and adopted the style "Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten", taking the surname of his mother's British family. The day before the wedding, King George VI bestowed the style "His Royal Highness" and, on the morning of the wedding, 20 November 1947, he was made the Duke of Edinburgh, Earl of Merioneth, and Baron Greenwich of Greenwich in the County of London.
Wedding
Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip were married at 11:30 GMT on 20 November 1947 at Westminster Abbey.
Princess Elizabeth was attended by eight bridesmaids: HRH The Princess Margaret (her younger sister), HRH Princess Alexandra of Kent (her first cousin), Lady Caroline Montagu-Douglas-Scott (daughter of the Duke of Buccleuch), Lady Mary Cambridge (her second cousin), Lady Elizabeth Lambart (daughter of the Earl of Cavan), The Hon. Pamela Mountbatten (Philip's first cousin), The Hon. Margaret Elphinstone (her first cousin) and The Hon. Diana Bowes-Lyon (her first cousin). Her cousins Prince William of Gloucester and Prince Michael of Kent served as page boys.
The royal parties were brought in large carriage processions, the first with The Queen and Princess Margaret and later a procession with Queen Mary. Philip left Kensington Palace with his best man, the Marquess of Milford Haven. Princess Elizabeth arrived at the Abbey with her father, King George, in the Irish State Coach.
The wedding ceremony was officiated by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Geoffrey Fisher, and the Archbishop of York, Cyril Garbett. The ceremony was recorded and broadcast by BBC Radio to 200 million people around the world. Elizabeth and Philip then proceeded to Buckingham Palace, where a breakfast was held at the Ball Supper-room. The couple received over 2,500 wedding presents from around the world and around 10,000 telegrams of congratulations.
Upon their marriage, Elizabeth took the title of her husband and became Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh. They departed for their honeymoon at Broadlands in Hampshire, home of Philip's uncle, Earl Mountbatten.
Clothing
On the morning of her wedding, as Princess Elizabeth was dressing at Buckingham Palace before leaving for Westminster Abbey, her tiara snapped. The court jeweller, who was standing by in case of emergency, was rushed to his work room by a police escort. Queen Elizabeth reassured her daughter that it would be fixed in time, and it was. For her wedding dress she still required ration coupons to buy the material for her gown, designed by Norman Hartnell. Elizabeth did her own makeup for the wedding.
Music
William Neil McKie, the Australian organist and Master of the Choristers at the abbey, was the director of music for the wedding, a role he again filled at Elizabeth's coronation in 1953. McKie also wrote a motet for the occasion, "We wait for thy loving kindness, O God". Psalm 67, "God be merciful unto us and bless us", was sung to a setting by Sir Edward Cuthbert Bairstow. The anthem was "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ" by Samuel Sebastian Wesley; the hymns were "Praise, my soul, the king of heaven", and "The Lord's my Shepherd" to the Scottish tune "Crimond" attributed to Jessie Seymour Irvine, which was largely unknown in the Church of England at the time. A descant to "Crimond" had been taught to Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret by a lady-in-waiting, Lady Margaret Egerton; the music for the descant could not be found, so the princesses and Lady Margaret sang it to William McKie, who wrote it down in shorthand. The service started with a specially composed fanfare by Arnold Bax and finished with Felix Mendelssohn's "Wedding March". The abbey choir was joined by the choirs of the Chapel Royal and St George's Chapel, Windsor.
The bride's family
The King and Queen of the United Kingdom, the bride's parents
The Princess Margaret, the bride's sister
Queen Mary of the United Kingdom, the bride's paternal grandmother
The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, the bride's paternal uncle and aunt
Prince William of Gloucester, the bride's first cousin
The Duchess of Kent, widow of the bride's paternal uncle and the groom's paternal first cousin
The Duke of Kent, the bride's first cousin
Princess Alexandra of Kent, the bride's first cousin
Prince Michael of Kent, the bride's first cousin
The Earl of Harewood, the bride's first cousin
Gerald Lascelles, the bride's first cousin
Princess Arthur of Connaught, Duchess of Fife, the bride's first cousin, once removed
The Earl of Southesk, widower of the bride's first cousin once removed
Lord Carnegie, the bride's second cousin
The King of Norway, widower of the bride's paternal great-aunt and the groom's first cousin, once removed
The Crown Prince and Crown Princess of Norway, the bride's first cousin, once removed
Princess Ragnhild of Norway, the bride's second cousin
Princess Astrid of Norway, the bride's second cousin
Prince Harald of Norway, the bride's second cousin
Lady Patricia and Sir Alexander Ramsay, the bride's first cousin twice removed and her husband
Princess Helena Victoria, the bride's first cousin twice removed
Princess Marie Louise, the bride's first cousin twice removed
The Marquess of Carisbrooke, the bride's first cousin, twice removed
The Earl of Athlone and Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone, the bride's paternal great-uncle and great-aunt
Lady May and Sir Henry Abel Smith, the bride's first cousin once removed and her husband
Miss Anne Abel Smith, the bride's second cousin
Miss Elizabeth Abel Smith, the bride's second cousin
The Marquess and Marchioness of Cambridge, the bride's first cousin once removed and his wife
Lady Mary Cambridge, the bride's second cousin
The Duchess and Duke of Beaufort, the bride's first cousin once removed and her husband
Lady Helena Gibbs, the bride's first cousin once removed
Bowes-Lyon Family
Mary Elphinstone, Lady Elphinstone, the bride's maternal aunt or Mary Elphinstone, the bride's first cousin
Patrick Bowes-Lyon, 15th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, the bride's maternal uncle
Fenella Hepburn-Stuart-Forbes-Trefusis, the bride's maternal aunt
Diana Bowes-Lyon the bride's first cousin
The groom's family
Princess Alice of Greece and Denmark, the groom's mother
The Dowager Marchioness of Milford Haven, the groom's maternal grandmother and the bride's first cousin twice removed
The Marchioness of Milford Haven, widow of the groom's maternal uncle
Lady Tatiana Mountbatten, the groom's first cousin'
The Marquess of Milford Haven, the groom's first cousin
The Earl and Countess Mountbatten of Burma, the groom's uncle and aunt
The Lady and Lord Brabourne, the groom's first cousin and her husband
Lady Pamela Mountbatten, the groom's first cousin
The Crown Princess and Crown Prince of Sweden, the groom's maternal aunt and uncle
Princess Irene of Prussia, the groom's maternal grandaunt
Princess Waldemar of Prussia, widow of the groom's first cousin, once removed
Prince and Princess Sigismund of Prussia, the groom's first cousin, once removed, and his wife
Princess Barbara of Prussia, the groom's second cousin
Prince Alfred of Prussia, the groom's second cousin
Princess Alexander of Greece, widow of the groom's first cousin
Queen Alexandra and King Peter II of Yugoslavia, the groom's first cousin, once removed, and her husband
The Queen Mother of the Romanians, the groom's first cousin
The King of the Romanians, the groom's first cousin, once removed
The Queen of the Hellenes, wife of the groom's first cousin
Princess Sofía of Greece and Denmark, the groom's first cousin, once removed
The Crown Prince of Greece, the groom's first cousin, once removed
Princess Irene of Greece and Denmark, the groom's first cousin, once removed
The Duchess and Duke of Aosta, the groom's first cousin and her husband
Prince Amedeo of Savoy-Aosta, the groom's first cousin, once removed
Lady Katherine and Major Sir Richard Brandram, the groom's first cousin and her husband
Prince and Princess George of Greece and Denmark, the groom's paternal uncle and aunt
Prince Peter of Greece and Denmark, the groom's first cousin
Princess Dominic Radziwiłł, the groom's first cousin
Princess Nicholas of Greece and Denmark, widow of the groom's paternal uncle
Princess Paul of Yugoslavia, the groom's first cousin
Princess Elizabeth, The Countess of Toerring-Jettenbach, the groom's first cousin
Princess Christopher of Greece and Denmark, widow of the groom's paternal uncle
Prince Michael of Greece and Denmark, the groom's first cousin
Queen Alexandrine of Denmark, widow of the groom's first cousin, once removed
The King and Queen of Denmark, the groom's second cousin and his wife
Princess Margrethe of Denmark, the groom's third cousin
The Hereditary Prince and Hereditary Princess of Denmark, the groom's second cousin and his wife
Princess Elisabeth of Denmark, the groom's third cousin
Prince Ingolf of Denmark, the groom's third cousin
Prince Christian of Denmark, the groom's third cousin
Prince and Princess Harald of Denmark, the groom's first cousin, once removed, and his wife
Princess Christian of Schaumburg-Lippe, the groom's second cousin
Princess Alexandrine, Countess Luitpold of Castell-Castell, the groom's second cousin
Prince Gorm of Denmark, the groom's second cousin
Prince Oluf of Denmark, the groom's second cousin
The Duke and Duchess of Västergötland, the groom's first cousin, once removed, and his wife
Prince Carl and Princess Elsa Bernadotte, the groom's second cousin and his first wife
Countess Madeleine Bernadotte, the groom's third cousin
Princess Dagmar, Mrs Castenskjold and Mr Jørgen Castenskjold, the groom's first cousin, once removed, and her husband
Princess Axel of Denmark, wife of the groom's first cousin, once removed
Prince George Valdemar of Denmark, the groom's second cousin
Prince Flemming Valdemar of Denmark, the groom's second cousin
Count Erik of Rosenborg, the groom's first cousin, once removed
Count Viggo and Countess Eleanor of Rosenborg, the groom's first cousin, once removed
Princess René of Bourbon-Parma, the groom's first cousin, once removed
Princess Anne of Bourbon-Parma, the groom's second cousin
Prince Michel of Bourbon-Parma, the groom's second cousin
Queen Victoria Eugenia of Spain, the groom's first cousin, once removed and the bride's first cousin twice removed
The Count and Countess of Barcelona, the groom's second cousin and his wife
Other foreign royalty
Iraq:
The King of Iraq
Yugoslavia:
Prince Tomislav of Yugoslavia
Prince Andrew of Yugoslavia
The Netherlands:
Princess Juliana and Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands
Belgium:
The Prince Regent of Belgium
Luxembourg:
The Hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg
Princess Elisabeth of Luxembourg
Absentees
So soon after the end of World War II, it was not acceptable for the Duke of Edinburgh's German relations, including Philip's three surviving sisters, to be invited to the wedding. Other notable absentees were the Duke of Windsor, the former king, who was not invited, and his sister, Mary, Princess Royal, who said she was ill. (Her husband, Henry Lascelles, 6th Earl of Harewood, had died six months before). Ronald Storrs claimed that she did not attend in protest at her brother's exclusion.