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Daily Mail
09-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Revealed: How a 'pink-faced' Queen Elizabeth swooned over the 'fairytale' Prince Philip during their first meeting
Love at first sight is the stereotypical start to any romantic tale. However for the teenage Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip it certainly was the case. The princess that would one day become queen and the man who would be by her side during her coronation first met in 1939 at Dartmouth Naval college. Elizabeth, 14, was touring the grounds with her father King George VI when she first laid eyes on the 18-year-old Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark. Writing in her biography of the couple, 'Elizabeth & Philip', Tessa Dunlop said that that the young Elizabeth 'couldn't take her eyes off' off the older Philip who had 'bags of confidence'. Philip then briefly chaperoned the young royal where they 'played with toy trains and leapt over a tennis net', according to Dunlop. In her bombshell memoir the 'Little Princesses', Elizabeth's governess Marion Crawford - known as Crawfie to the family - claimed that the future monarch was left 'pink-faced' after her interactions with Philip. And while Crawfie was known to sensationalise many of her claims, it would appear that in this instance the young Elizabeth was immediately smitten by Philip. However, they would then face six years apart when the country was plunged into conflict with the start of World War Two just two months after their meeting. With Philip shipped off to serve in the Royal Navy. Elizabeth still kept in touch with Philip with the two exchanging platonic letters throughout the war. The pair did meet in person from time to time during the early 1940s. According to broadcaster Gyles Brandreth in his biography of Queen Elizabeth's life - titled 'Elizabeth' - they were reunited in 1943 when Prince Philip came to stay at Windsor while on leave. While at the palace, Philip saw Elizabeth play the titular role of Aladdin in a pantomime production of the folktale. Brandreth wrote that Elizabeth - as a monarch-in-waiting - was a 'authority figure who held your eye when she was on stage and kept her eye on everything'. In a 1943 letter after his stay at Windsor, Philip wrote of the 'simple enjoyment of family pleasures and amusements and the feeling that I am welcome to share them. 'I am afraid I am not capable of putting all this into the right words and I am certainly incapable of showing you the gratitude that I feel.' The same year, he apologised for the 'monumental cheek' of turning up to Buckingham Palace uninvited. Throughout the Second World War Philip and Elizabeth conversed through letters and the Prince also paid a visit to Elizabeth while he was on leave on active service 'Yet however contrite I feel, there is always a small voice that keeps saying "Nothing ventured, nothing gained",' he wrote. 'Well did I venture, and I gained a wonderful time.' When Philip began visiting Elizabeth, she would, according to Crawfie, watch through the window to 'see the tall, lean figure coming past the fountain in the centre of the road outside the Palace, or to see his small sports car turn in at the Palace gates. Usually a deal too fast...' They continued to converse over letters for the next few years but despite their obvious fondness for each other marriage was not always on the cards. Brandreth wrote that according to Philip 'marriage was not on the agenda' but after he returned to Britain in 1946 their relationship soon blossomed and the couple got secretly engaged later that year. Elizabeth's father was so concerned that the couple's burgeoning romance may be a short-lived teenage infatuation that when Philip asked for her hand in marriage he insisted they wait a year until after Elizabeth's 21st birthday before making any public announcement. Upon the announcement of their engagement, royal aides spun the fairytale story of the beautiful 21-year-old heir to the throne and the ruggedly handsome war hero who - as a member of the Greek royal family - had renounced his own princely titles to serve with distinction as a British officer in the Royal Navy. And following a period of crisis for the Royals - with the abdication crisis that saw Elizabeth's father become king - Elizabeth and Philip proved that the future of the crown was in safe hands. By modern standards, the couple's engagement was short. After a courtship that spanned eight years and a global conflict, they were married on November 20, 1947 at Westminster Abbey, just four months after the Princess first showed off her engagement ring. The ring had special symbolic value that speaks volumes about their respective backgrounds. It was specially made from a platinum band set with diamonds taken from a tiara Alice had worn on her wedding day. According to Philip's mother, Princess Alice, Philip was not the same man before and after the announcement. Dunlop claims that Alice witnessed a 'rapid transformation in her son'. Dunlop wrote: 'Alice witnessed a rapid transformation in her son. Two days earlier she'd help him pack, and then his levels of excitement had been reminiscent of Philip's "eager tail-wagging days" as a schoolboy, when he moved from pillar to post. 'Overnight her son made the transition and it was with a note of satisfaction that Alice wrote to her brother Dickie [Lord Mountbatten] in India: "It amused me very much to be waiting with the rest of the family, for Philip to come down grandly with Bertie, Elizabeth and Lillibet".' However, Philip's sudden transformation had been a year in the making after the couple secretly got engaged in 1946 but waited until Elizabeth was 21 to make a formal announcement. So when the happy couple emerged from Buckingham Palace to wave at cheering well-wishers on the Mall, Elizabeth and Phillip - unsurprisingly - looked every bit like the dutiful public servants they would become in the decades after their marriage.
Metro
04-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Metro
Kylie Minogue was my first CD - seeing her perform was not what I expected
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video As per her 2007 hit: 'Wow, wow, wow, wow.' Kylie Minogue is not consigned to the past, even if it is nearing four decades since her breakout 80s track, The Loco-Motion. Alongside – oddly – Elvis Presley, Kylie's 2001 album Fever, with Love At First Sight, In Your Eyes and Can't Get You Out Of My Head, was my first CD. Experiencing her live over 20 years on was an experience I will never forget, and one I was not expecting. I thought seeing Kylie would simply be a warm, familiar burst of sunny nostalgia all these years on, but she was everything and more, with outfit changes galore, whiplash dance moves, and a voice that never, ever falters. In 2025, the 57-year-old is past, present and future. She is a chart-topping discography of pop, disco and even country-inspired bangers dating back to before the fall of the Berlin Wall. Right now, Kylie is the only solo female artist to have performed over 21 times at the O2, as she explained last night, while clutching her chest, shaking her head and wiping away tears. But Kylie is also the future. She's spearheading the LGBT+ music scene, with album Tension, from which her global mega-hit Padam, Padam was born. It was clear last night that she's a modern day icon as much as an 80s, 90s, or 00s one, with dramatic cries of 'Mother!' audible from youngsters in the crowd. Cultural relevance partied alongside nostalgia, with fans desperately waving signs to signify it was their 50th and 80th Kylie show, demonstrating just how multifaceted her influence is. This unusual melting pot of fans made for one hell of an atmosphere. Come Into My World cut through beaty pop hits like Get Outta My Way with a 90s trance-like romance, while Better the Devil You Know united 20,000 strangers into one huge hug of a party, everyone safe in Kylie's experienced arms. At no point did Kylie stumble, misstep, or sing a dud note. She was spectacular and heartfelt from start to finish. Kylie has so much love for fans that she sang three mini-songs acapella at their request – Hand on Your Heart, Je Ne Sais Pas Pourquoi and Midnight Ride. More Trending A highlight was Dancing, her 2018 track which veers mysteriously into country and got the audience swaying and toe-tapping in unison. When Kylie stripped things back for an acoustic version of Say Something, with all the fuss of lights, synthy beats and dancers gone, like a true professional megastar, she shone. After a sultry, dimly-lit and powerful turn in Slow, the last three songs of the show were unbridled euphoria. All The Lovers was a floaty, enchanting pop explosion and the highlight of the evening, before Padam Padam saw Mother enter the room. I looked around the O2 during the closing song of the evening, Love at First Sight, and all I saw was pits-in-the-air jubilation. That's the feeling Kylie gave me when I was six, and one she's still conjuring over 20 years later. Got a story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@ calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you.
