75 years of marriage of Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh: a bombproof love

This impressive four-story and nearly three-meter-tall cake was nicknamed ash “10,000 Mile Wedding Cake”, as the ingredients were imported into the UK from South Africa and Australia. The British auction house Gorringes auctioned a piece of this cake in its original ivory packaging, decorated with the initials E and P, and the inscription “Buckingham Palace, November 20, 1947”. It sold for €680 with a card reading “With best wishes from their Royal Highnesses the Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh”. The cake, which the Gorringes house says would still be edible due to its high alcohol content, was purchased by an anonymous buyer in Los Angeles whose father had been invited to the wedding 68 years ago.

This is the first royal wedding after the end of World War II, and that’s why Elizabeth II paid for part of her dress with chocolates as part of post-war austerity measures. The payment for the wedding dress was made from what the monarch had managed to save and more than 200 she received in addition from the government. For his part, Philip of Edinburgh wore his naval uniform.

The Queen opted for an ivory duchess satin wedding dress by court designer Sir Norman Hartnell. 25 seamstresses and 10 embroiderers they worked on the design, which they embellished with British and Commonwealth floral decals in silver and gold thread, small pearls, sequins and crystals. The designer added an Irish four-leaf clover woven into the skirt so that the monarch could rest her hand on a symbol of good luck.

Elizabeth II’s tiara became one of the involuntary protagonists of the royal wedding. Tradition dictates that only married women can wear it, so it was the young monarch’s first time wearing this piece. It is a tiara that belonged to her grandmother, Queen Mary, and was made with the diamonds that Queen Victoria gave to Mary as a wedding present. But the piece broke two hours before the wedding, and although Elizabeth II’s mother suggested that the tiara be changed, the monarch refused, and the guard court jeweler took the diadem to the workshop for a quick weld. Although they managed to get out of the way, there was a gap between the main jewel and the diamond spike on the right.

In St. James Palace they rested 2,500 wedding gifts for the bride and groomwho came from different parts of the world. Among them was the two-row pearl necklace Isabel had received from her parents, but had forgotten all about. The royal family’s private secretary went to collect him in the car of the King of Norway, but traffic forced half of the route to be covered on foot. In addition to the gifts, the couple received some 10,000 congratulatory telegrams.

Elizabeth arrived at Westminster Abbey with her father, King George VI, in the Irish state carriage. The royals greeted the crowd through the glass windows, while the guests took their seats in the abbey awaiting the imminent arrival of the bride. King George is said to have told the archbishop in charge of the ceremony: “It is much more emotional to marry off your daughter than to marry yourself.” Winston Churchill and his wife arrived late and reporters believed it was the arrival of Elizabeth II. The former prime minister has since become the protagonist of an awkward moment he got up in the middle of the office to put on his coat.

The wedding breakfast, served shortly after the ceremony, was held at Buckingham Palace. The menu consisted of Filet de Sole Mountbatten, Perdreau and Casserole Y Bombe Glacee Princess Elizabeth. It was served on gilt silver service by the service, dressed in scarlet livery. More than 2,000 guests were presented with myrtle and white Balmoral heather flower bouquets.