The Queen met Prince Philip in 1934, when they both attended the wedding of Philip’s cousin, Princess Marina of Greece. She married the Duke of Kent. At the time, Elizabeth was just a teenager and Philip 18-years-old.
The young couple met again in 1939, at Dartmouth Royal Navy College, where Philip attempted to impress Elizabeth on the tennis court.
They started writing to one another soon after, but their engagement wasn’t announced until July 1947.
Philip proposed with a ring that paid tribute to his family.
According to diamond experts Steven Stone, the engagement ring has a “special history” as its diamonds came from a tiara belonging to Philip’s mother, Princess Alice of Battenberg.
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Experts at Steven Stone have estimated the value of the ring today, finding it to be worth around £207,082.
Although Philip was a Prince, his family was not very wealthy, therefore using diamonds from another jewellery piece could have been an effective way for him to save money.
Princess Alice gave her son a diamond and aquamarine tiara in 1946, knowing Philip would soon propose to Elizabeth.
The tiara had been given to Alice in 1903 by her aunt and uncle, just before she married Prince Andrew.
The Queen has worn this bracelet on many occasions, including for her and Philip’s 25th wedding anniversary portrait in 1972.
More recently, Her Majesty also donned it for her Diamond Jubilee portrait in 2012.
The Duchess of Cambridge has borrowed the bracelet more than once, choosing to wear it for a state banquet for the President of China in 2015, and for the BAFTAs in 2017.
Her Majesty’s wedding ring, meanwhile, was made with Welsh gold mined from the Clogau mine, near Dolgellau.
