The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Queen and Duke of Edinburgh mark platinum wedding.
Family gather round as Queen and Duke of Edinburgh toast their long marriage
The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh celebrated their platinum wedding anniversary with a special party at Windsor Castle, surrounded by their children and grandchildren.
More than 100 guests gathered in the State Apartments to toast the royal couple, who wed 70 years ago in the historic surrounds of Westminster Abbey.
The monarch and Philip’s eldest son and heir, the Prince of Wales and his wife the Duchess of Cornwall were among those present, as were the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, who are expecting their third child, and Prince Harry.
The castle’s opulent State Apartments were closed to visitors during the day as preparations were put in place for the special black tie reception and dinner to mark the milestone.
The royal family were out in force for the celebration. Philip’s German relations the Margrave of Baden and his brother Prince Ludwig of Baden had also reportedly travelled to the UK for the anniversary party.
Charles has just returned from a busy tour of hurricane-ravaged Caribbean islands, while the Duke of York is also back in the UK after an official visit to Mexico.
Ladies in waiting who have served Elizabeth II for decades were understood to be among the guests, along with long-standing friends of the royals.
Earlier, the Queen presented the duke with a rare honour as an anniversary present, privately appointing Philip a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (GCVO) for services to the sovereign.
Philip, 96, retired from his public role in the summer after years of royal duty alongside the monarch.
He is the longest-serving royal consort in British history and the Queen, the nation’s longest reigning monarch, is the first to celebrate a 70th wedding anniversary.
Earlier yesterday, bells at Westminster Abbey in central London rangoutintribute, withafullcelebratory peal lasting around three hours and 20 minutes.
The Queen and Philip attended thanksgiving services at the abbey and Prime Minister Theresa May also sent her congratulations. Even though it was 70 years ago, that November Day in 1947 has lingered in my memory ever since.
We were given a day off school, so my mother took me up to her office on the corner of Westminster Bridge Road with a perfect view both down Whitehall and across the square to Westminster Abbey.
Huge crowds thronged the pavements, and we had to push through them to get to the office entrance.
Once at the window, we could see just how vast the crowd was.
My abiding memory was how everyone seemed dressed in dark colours – it was like watching a black and white film.
It was a chilly, damp day and the long wait took its toll as many people fainted, with ambulance crews spending the whole time running to and fro with stretchers.
Then came the loud cheers, an approaching wall of sound as the royal carriage carrying Princess Elizabeth and King George VI drew nearer to the abbey. Aged six, I barely knew who Princess Elizabeth was, but I knew the man at her side – he was the King, whose profile was on every coin, banknote and stamp in my collection.
Sometime later the carriage passed the other way, this time with the newlyweds Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip, carried along on a tide of cheering.
Then another carriage with the King and Queen and others with the wider royal family.
Little did I think as a small boy that, 70 years later, I could say I was there.