THERE was never a queen so adored as Elizabeth in the first years of her reign.
Prince Philip later recalled: “You wouldn’t believe it. You really wouldn’t.”
During the young couple’s two-month tour of Australia in 1954, an estimated three quarters of the population turned out to see them.
All over the world Her Majesty was talked and written about as if she was a character from a fairytale.
Lady Jane Rayne, one of Elizabeth’s Coronation maids of honour, said: “All our hopes rested with this one woman and how she was going to change everything.”
Adulation put unprecedented pressure on the Queen, but she coped. Philip did not fare so well.
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Used to an active life as a naval officer, he was bored and restless. So when he was invited to open the 1956 Melbourne Olympics as a solo act instead of in a supporting role, he accepted.
And to really enjoy himself, he decided to travel his favourite way — by sea, aboard the Royal Yacht Britannia.
It would take much longer, but it would mean he could indulge his adventurous side, even becoming the first royal to visit Antarctica.
The Queen thought it was a “frightfully good idea”. It gave her time and space to work without having to worry about Philip’s frustrations.
All you need to know after Queen Elizabeth II dies aged 96
THE nation is in mourning after beloved Queen Elizabeth dies aged 96 – here is all you need to know about Her Majesty’s glorious life and what’s next.
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Unfortunately, the four-month tour produced new problems.
Instead of being congratulated on a trip to Commonwealth outposts such as the Falkland Islands which included scientific research, Philip was slammed.
Why, it was asked, had he left his wife and young children, Charles and Anne, for so long?
Rumours of an affair surfaced in US newspapers. Then the Palace took the unprecedented step of denying any marriage rift, which elevated it to the front page of every newspaper.
Philip’s friend and private secretary Mike Parker, who had gone with him on the trip, said: “The Duke was incandescent. Very, very angry and deeply hurt.”
Parker’s own marriage brought more trouble. When news broke of his upcoming divorce, still considered a scandal in the Fifties, he resigned.
Strong marriage
The Queen had an old-fashioned view of marriage and her serene acceptance of Philip helped keep their union alive.
What else, given her position, character and duty, was she to do? She continued to defer to him at home and he, in turn, was her greatest protector. Their marriage developed into a strong and supportive one.
And PM Harold Macmillan put a stop to the “rift” stories by proposing to the Queen that she make Philip a Prince, “in recognition of services to the nation”. Her Majesty agreed.
It might not have been coincidence that after this significant wobble, the royal union quickly produced two more sons: Andrew in 1960 and Edward in 1964.
The first baby came with another boost for Philip. A new surname was introduced to the House of Windsor: Mountbatten-Windsor, a move he had been lobbying for, with increasing exasperation, for years.
The first half was Philip’s name, and it finally gave the Duke a sense of status within the family. Prince Harry would use the surname for his children Archie and Lilibet.
Elizabeth knew how much it meant to her husband and when things really mattered to her, she was resolutely determined to get what she wanted.
Divorce scandal
There had been one, devastating, family problem she could not solve. At the Coronation in 1953, Princess Margaret had been seen brushing fluff “with a tender hand” from the lapels of Group Captain Peter Townsend, handsome Battle of Britain hero and equerry to George VI and the Queen.
Eleven days later their story was public. The previous year, just after Townsend had divorced his wife over her infidelity, the couple had told Elizabeth they were in love and wanted to marry.
But his divorce meant the Church of England would not allow him to marry again.
The Queen was torn — her beloved sister’s happiness or her duty as head of the church, Defender Of The Faith.
It was not a surprise which responsibility won, but it caused deep heartache that Margaret never fully got over.
In an attempt to avoid scandal, the Queen took Philip’s advice and told 23-year-old Margaret to keep quiet about the relationship.
It backfired badly. The Press — including US papers, who called the princess “Meg” — took the side of the lovers and portrayed the Queen as the enemy of romance.
'Brutal move'
In reality, she desperately wanted her sister to be happy, but agreed that 38-year-old Townsend be posted to Brussels for two years as air attaché.
It was a brutal move by private secretary Tommy Lascelles. Margaret said: “I shall curse him to the grave.”
At the end of the two years, she would be 25 and, under the Marriage Act, free to wed without her sister’s consent, providing she could secure the approval of Parliament.
But if she married, she would lose her title and position as third in line to the throne, as well as the allowance that went with it.
In October 1955, and after much heartache, Margaret chose to give up the man she loved rather than face what she imagined would be a life of penury, exile and ostracism.
Five years later she married society photographer Antony Armstrong-Jones, aka Lord Snowdon. The relationship ended in divorce in 1978, causing great unhappiness for Margaret and real sadness for Elizabeth.
“Margo”, as her sister called her, was the Queen’s closest friend.
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She loved the mercurial, whisky-drinking, cigarette-smoking beauty who during the 1960s created an alternative “court” of bright young things and whose life had held so much promise.
The Queen would tolerate in Margaret what she would not in anyone else – and together with the Queen Mother they formed a tight, impenetrable trio.
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