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Journalism of Courage
Though the present generation in the British royal family might find it difficult remaining married, their parents, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, have shown that marriages in the royal family are not always doomed to failure.
In fact, during the war years, their8217;s was a love story that lifted the gloom. They first met at the Royal Naval College at Dartmouth in 1939, when Princess Elizabeth, then 13, was very impressed by her handsome 18-year-old cousin. During the war, the prince spent some time at Windsor Castle and by 1940, was writing to the princess once a week. Some in the royal family had reservations about the connection, since though otherwise eligible, the Prince had some relatives in league with the Nazis. Still, the Prince was invited to spend Christmas at Windsor in 1943, where he and the Princess, now 17, played charades and exchanged photographs. In 1946, Prince Philip proposed and was accepted at Balmoral, though the news was officially denied.
On July 9, 1947, when the engagement was finally announced, enthusiastic crowds gathered outside Buckingham Palace, and shouted until the two appeared on the balcony. Even when they went back inside, the crowds remained, singing appropriate ditties: The Sailor with the Navy Blue Eyes, All the Nice Girls Love a Sailor, and A Bicycle Made For Two.
