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After the celebration of the Queen’s twenty first birthday, she returned dwelling for a very thrilling new a part of her life: the official announcement her upcoming marriage to Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten. And an engagement, after all, often requires a hoop!
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Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark and Princess Elizabeth of the UK had identified one another by way of household connections since childhood. Their paths undoubtedly crossed alongside the best way, however their first significant assembly reportedly occurred in 1939, throughout a go to by the royal household to the Royal Naval Faculty at Dartmouth, the place Philip was a cadet. Afterward, the youngsters started writing to one another, a correspondence that continued when Philip went to struggle a couple of years later. Finally friendship and crushes turned to real romance. After the tip of the struggle, each started pondering of marriage, and Philip proposed to Elizabeth throughout a vacation at Balmoral Citadel in September 1946.
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Elizabeth’s father, King George VI, agreed to offer his blessing to their marriage, although he requested them to delay asserting their engagement till after the royal tour of South Africa, throughout which Elizabeth would rejoice her twenty first birthday. They agreed to attend, however the public shortly started to suspect that one thing was up. In October 1946, the familiarity between the pair on the wedding ceremony of a mutual cousin, Girl Patricia Mountbatten, raised eyebrows. As agreed, although, the couple saved mum.
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In the meantime, preparations started behind the scenes to organize for Philip’s integration into the British royal household. He agreed to change into a British topic, divesting himself of his Greek and Danish royal titles to change into merely Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten. Whereas the royal household headed out on their African royal tour, Philip and his mom, Princess Andrew of Greece and Denmark, additionally started planning to obtain an engagement ring match for a princess. Alice agreed to offer gems from one among little-used tiaras to make the ring.
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Alice traveled to Paris, the place she retrieved an aquamarine and diamond tiara from a financial institution vault. The tiara had been one among her personal wedding ceremony presents, a gift from her uncle and aunt, Emperor Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra of Russia, in 1903. She’s pictured above carrying the tiara in a portrait, which dates to 1909. Now, she supposed to have the jewel damaged up in order that among the diamonds may very well be used to make an engagement ring for Elizabeth. Press scrutiny had change into so intense by that time that Philip was too nervous to go to a jeweler, for concern that the information of the engagement would leak early. So it was Alice herself who labored with a jeweler, Philip Antrobus in Bond Road, to have the ring made for her future daughter-in-law.
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Within the spring of 1947, a three-carat diamond taken from Alice’s tiara was set in platinum, with extra smaller stones, to make a stunning engagement ring for the princess. “I believe the ring is a superb success,” Alice instructed her brother, Lord Mountbatten. Extra of the diamonds from the tiara had been additionally used to make a superb wedding ceremony current for Philip to current to his bride.
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Philip introduced the ring to his future bride privately simply earlier than the official announcement of their engagement. In her controversial royal memoir, Marion Crawford remembers that Elizabeth got here into her room early on the morning of July 9 to point out off her new engagement ring. The ring was too massive, Crawfie remembered, as a result of “after all [Elizabeth] had been unable to go and check out it on.”
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However when Philip and Elizabeth stepped earlier than the press cameras on July 10, 1947, the ring was glowing superbly on her left hand. The day of the engagement announcement was stuffed with occasions, which you’ll be able to examine intimately right here. Elizabeth additionally wore one among her new twenty first birthday presents, the Diamond Clematis Brooch, for the official images.
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The Queen continued to put on the traditional, stunning ring for the remainder of her life. With Romanov diamonds grand sufficient for a monarch, however a easy design that suited for a lady who most popular nation pursuits, the ring match its wearer completely.
