PALACE: IT’S OFFICIAL ...THEY’RE ENGAGED!
PRINCEss Elizabeth is to wed lieutenant Philip Mountbatten.
the court circular, issued by Buckingham Palace, last night revealed that the King and Queen had gladly given their consent to the union — which will see the 21-year-old Princess wed Philip, son of the late Prince Andrew of Greece and Princess Alice of Battenberg.
the marriage date has not yet been fixed. It will likely be during the coming months in Westminster Abbey.
lieut. Mountbatten drove into Buckingham Palace just after six o’clock last night to dine with the King, while the Princess went out to a dinner party and later went dancing.
He has already given the Princess the ring. It is of platinum with one large diamond and two smaller stones set at either side.
COUNTRY HOME
this afternoon lieut. Mountbatten and the Princess will make their first public appearance together among the 10,000 guests at a garden party at the Palace. In the evening they are expected to appear on the Palace balcony to receive the congratulations of the people of london.
One of the problems facing Princess Elizabeth and her husbandto-be is finding a home. It might even delay the wedding.
Court officials have searched for a suitable house and failed. It might be necessary in the early days of married life for a flat to be rented, or apartments set aside in the Palace.
No decision has yet been reached about a country home, but there are prospects that a house will be found on the King’s Windsor estate.
As for the royal couple’s income, it all depends on the scale of life which the Princess and lieut. Mountbatten wish to adopt. As Heir-Presumptive, Princess Elizabeth will have to maintain an establishment which in normal circumstances she would not desire.
On becoming 21 on April 21, her allowance was raised from £6,000 a year to £15,000. After the King has given consent to the marriage by Order-in-Council at a meeting of Privy Councillors to be held at Buckingham Palace towards the end of this month, the question of Princess Elizabeth’s allowance will have to be decided.
Financial provision will certainly have to be made for lieut. Mountbatten.
And it will not be necessary for lieut. Mountbatten to seek formal entrance of the Church of England, which is required of members of the Royal Family. As Prince Philip of Greece, he was christened at Corfu a member of the Greek Orthodox Church.
FELL IN LOVE
the late Archbishop lang of Canterbury reached an understanding with the Greek Church by which it is possible for members of either to enjoy full communion.
Princess Elizabeth and lieut. Mountbatten are known to have met at the Coronation in 1937.
then they met again when Princess Elizabeth went with the King and Queen in July 1939 to the Royal Naval College at Dartmouth, where Philip was training.
the young cadet had no opportunity of talking to the Princess, but later, with other young men who were friends of the Princess — young men of title and young Guards officers — he began to see more of her on visits to london, then fell in love with her.
Princess Elizabeth fell in love with him, too. His photograph appeared on the dressing-table in her boudoir. last autumn they saw a great deal of each other when lieut. Mountbatten went up to stay as the guest of the King and Queen at Balmoral.
HAPPY FUTURE
From then on events followed much along the lines that they do in any other family where a daughter falls in love.
the young lieut. Mountbatten,
though everybody in the Royal Family knew that he was in love with the Princess, did not ask for her hand until the early part of this year, just before the start of the south African tour.
the King, like many another father, might have suggested that they wait a little to see if they were still of the same mind when the Princess returned. And so, throughout the tour a silver-framed photograph of lieut. Mountbatten stood on her dressing table.
When together, they spoke to the King and Queen again on the Royal Family’s return from south Africa, the King gave to them his consent.
this morning the nation and the world give them congratulations and good wishes for a long and happy future together.