Diamonds are forever

Celebrations kicked off on Sunday to mark the diamond wedding anniversary of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, who married 60 years ago this week.

Queen Elizabeth - the first British monarch to celebrate a diamond wedding anniversary - was a 21-year-old princess when she married 26-year-old naval officer Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten at Westminster Abbey on November 20, 1947.

She ascended to the throne in 1952 upon the death of her father, King George VI.

Yesterday, Buckingham Palace released official anniversary photographs showing the queen and Philip, arms linked. The photos were taken earlier this year at Broadlands, the stately home in southern England where they spent their wedding night in 1947.

Later yesterday, Prince Charles was to host a banquet in his parents' honour. Today, more than 2,000 people - including senior royals and Prime Minister Gordon Brown - are due to fill Westminster Abbey for a service celebrating the anniversary.

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams will lead prayers, second in line to the throne Prince William will give a reading and actress Judi Dench will read verses written for the occasion by poet laureate Andrew Motion.

The guest list includes 20 ordinary Britons who married on the same day as the queen and prince.

Philip was born into the Greek royal family and is related to many of Europe's royal clans. Relatives from the German side of his family are also scheduled to attend the service. They were not invited to the wedding in 1947 because of British hostility to its recently defeated Second World War enemy.

Tolerance

On the couple's golden anniversary in 1997, Elizabeth praised her husband as "my strength and stay." Philip - renowned for his blunt and occasionally politically incorrect comments over the years - praised his wife's character.

"I think the main lesson we have learned is that tolerance is the one essential ingredient of any happy marriage," he said.

"You can take it from me that the queen has the quality of tolerance in abundance." The Royal Mail issued a series of postage stamps to mark the diamond anniversary, and the Royal Mint has produced 21 jewel-encrusted Faberge eggs adorned with the couple's names.

The mint said all 21 of the eggs - made from red enamel set with 18-carat gold and diamonds and priced at £29,950 (Dh225,006) apiece - have been reserved by buyers.

The royal couple will spend tomorrow on a private visit to Malta, where Philip was based with the navy in the early years of their marriage.

Queen Elizabeth, 81, is known to cherish the time they spent on the Mediterranean island as a young couple, out of Britain and out of the spotlight in the years before she inherited the throne aged 25 in 1952.

"Malta is a special place for the queen and the Duke of Edinburgh," a spokeswoman for Buckingham Palace, the queen's official residence, said.

Philip served on HMS Chequers with the Royal Navy Mediterranean Fleet. The couple lived in a house called Villa Guardamangia.

Princess Elizabeth divided her time between Malta and Britain, where her first-born Prince Charles remained with his grandparents. She returned in 1950 to give birth to Princess Anne.

From Malta, they couple are to travel to Uganda for a summit of leaders from the Commonwealth of Britain and its former colonies.

Prince Andrew, the couple's second son, said their wedding and enduring marriage was based on firm principles.

"It's through partnership, discipline, a commitment to each other," the 47-year-old told ITV television.

"It was something that was done with the sole intention of being together for the rest of one's life.

Compromise

"It is a partnership of two people who recognise the fact that marriage is a partnership between two people, compromises have to be met on both sides, life has to continue and in that life there has to be an element of discipline in order to make that partnership and marriage work."

Events marking the diamond wedding anniversary have been held throughout the year.

From July to September, Buckingham Palace staged an exhibition about the day 60 years ago, including the wedding dress and some of the 2,500 gifts.

For their golden wedding anniversary 10 years ago, a Westminster Abbey service was attended by the largest gathering of European royalty since the queen's coronation in 1953.

Coming soon after the death of Diana, princess of Wales, when the monarchy was judged to be out of touch with the public mood, it was an opportunity to surmount the rift.

Queen Elizabeth is the first reigning British monarch to reach a diamond wedding anniversary.

Such royal celebrations are now marked less widely than earlier in her reign, but warmly nonetheless.

• The Duke of Edinburgh had two stag parties before his wedding to the queen and the couple were showered with rose petals as they headed off on honeymoon.
• Prince Philip had his two stag parties the night before the wedding - the first, held at the Dorchester, saw the press being invited.
• The second saw the groom head to the Belfry Club with a group of his closest friends.
• Their wedding cake on November 20, 1947 was 9ft (2.74 metre) high.
• The Royal couple honeymooned at Broadlands, Hampshire, home of Prince Philip's uncle Earl Mountbatten, from Waterloo station, accompanied by Her Majesty's corgi, Susan.
• On the day of the wedding, the grave of the Unknown Warrior was the only stone not covered by a special carpet inside Westminster Abbey.
• The day after the ceremony, the queen followed a tradition started by her mother of having her wedding bouquet returned to the Abbey to be laid on the tombstone.
• And among the 2,500 wedding presents were two pairs of bed socks and a home-made tea cosy sent by members of the public.
• Preparations for the historic event included the checking of BBC microphones due to a previous incident at a royal wedding in 1934, where the Abbey cross hit a microphone which was dangling above the altar steps.
• The Queen is the first British monarch to celebrate a diamond wedding anniversary.

BBC Online: wedding facts