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Agence France-Presse

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip were celebrating 70 years of marriage on Monday, becoming Britain’s first reigning couple to mark a platinum wedding anniversary.
The decades-spanning marriage of the Queen – the nation’s longest serving sovereign – has outlasted those of all prior British monarchs.
The royal couple will not hold any public events but have invited family and friends to Windsor Castle for a private dinner on Monday evening, according to media reports.
Earlier in the day the bells of Westminster Abbey, where Elizabeth married the Duke of Edinburgh on November 20, 1947, will ring out in full celebratory peal.
The abbey’s company of ringers – a team of 10 – will deliver the tribute uninterrupted for around three hours and 20 minutes, from 1300 GMT. 
Also in honour of the occasion, Buckingham Palace on Saturday issued new photographic portraits of the Queen and the Prince, taken earlier this month in the White Drawing Room at Windsor Castle.
They are framed by Thomas Gainsborough’s 1781 portraits of George III and Queen Charlotte, whose 57-year union – bridging the 18th and 19th centuries – is the next longest British royal marriage.
In one of the photographs released, the Queen poses in the same cream dress she wore at her diamond wedding anniversary thanksgiving service 10 years ago, along with a yellow gold, ruby and diamond brooch Philip gave her in 1966.
Meanwhile the Royal Mail, Britain’s postal service, has issued a new set of six stamps to commemorate the historic landmark.
It includes images of the pair’s engagement announcement at Buckingham Palace, their wedding amid the splendour of Westminster Abbey, and the first part of their honeymoon at a country estate in the county of Hampshire.
The fairy-tale royal wedding in 1947 was a morale boost during the tough years immediately after second world war.
Their marriage endured, as Philip accepted living in his wife’s shadow, and the Queen seemingly forgiving his periodic gaffes.
They had four children – Charles, Anne, Andrew and Edward – though their marriages have been less successful, with all except Edward having divorced.
The couple also boast eight grandchildren and five great-grandchildren, with a sixth great-grandchild expected in April, when Prince William and wife Kate Middleton’s third child is due.
The 96-year-old Duke of Edinburgh retired from the public eye this summer, enjoying his new-found free time reading and painting.
For her part the Queen, at 91, is slowly passing over some of her official duties to her son Prince Charles, now aged 69.
The royal couple first met as teenagers, and eventually married when Elizabeth was a 25-year-old princess.
Philip, the son of a Greek prince banished from that country, renounced his titles and Greek Orthodox faith and became a British citizen in order to marry, adopting his mother’s anglicised name, Mountbatten.
Prior to the wedding he told the Queen Mother he had “fallen in love completely and unreservedly” with her daughter.
Since described by Elizabeth as her “rock,” Philip once remarked: “My job first, second and last, is never to let the Queen down.”


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Royalty

Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip mark 70th anniversary, outlasting marriages of all other British monarchs

In this photograph released by Buckingham Palace on November 19, Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and her husband, Britain's Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh are pictured in the White Drawing Room at Windsor Castle, to mark their Platinum Wedding Anniversary, which falls on Monday. Photo: AFP / CAMERAPRESS / Matt Holyoak

In this photograph released by Buckingham Palace on November 19, 2017 and taken by Camera Press photographer Matt Holyoak in November 2017, Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and her husband, Britain's Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh are pictured in the second of a sequence of three portraits, in the White Drawing Room at Windsor Castle, to mark their Platinum Wedding Anniversary (70 years). Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip will celebrate their platinum wedding anniversary on November 20, marking 70 years since they married in the splendour of Westminster Abbey. / AFP PHOTO / BUCKINGHAM PALACE/CAMERAPRESS / Matt Holyoak /

(FILES) This file photo taken on November 20, 1947 shows members of the Royal family including Britain's King George VI (5R) and his wife Queen Elizabeth (3R) posing around the Princess Elizabeth (Queen Elizabeth II) and Philip The Duke of Edinburgh on their wedding day, 20 November 1947 in the Throne Room at Buckingham Palace. Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip will celebrate their platinum wedding anniversary on November 20, marking 70 years since they married in the splendour of Westminster Abbey. / AFP PHOTO / STR

(FILES) This file photo taken on November 20, 1947 shows Britain's Princess Elizabeth (future Queen Elizabeth II) and Philip Duke of Edinburgh pose on their wedding day, 20 November 1947 in Buckingham Palace. Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip will celebrate their platinum wedding anniversary on November 20, marking 70 years since they married in the splendour of Westminster Abbey. / AFP PHOTO / STR

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