20 Nov 07 Happy Anniversary, Your Majesty

Today marks the 60th Anniversary of the wedding of the then Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip.

The couple received 2,500 wedding presents, and an extra 200 clothing coupons, as was standard issue to brides at this time, as Britain was still under severe rationing after World War II, which didn’t finally end until 1954!

Some of these presents including a dinner service given by the French Government, are still in use today!

The police on duty for the wedding got some extra rations, and the police canteens were allowed to serve beer outside normal hours – between 3pm and 5.30pm.

There was some sensitivity about the prince’s nationality – he was Greek – not least due to his four sisters all having married Germans, some of whom had suspect connections during the war. They were not invited to the wedding.