23 April 1948: The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh in procession after the 600th Anniversary Service of the Order of the Garter on St. George’s Day.

Princess Elizabeth posed for her 21st birthday pictures at the Royal Natal National Park in South Africa.

“On her twenty-fourth birthday, 21 April 1950, at 8:45 a.m., in her bedroom at the Villa Guardamangia, her telephone rang. When she picked up the receiver she was greeted with a rousing chorus of ‘Happy Birthday to You’ performed by a group of young naval officers accompanied by some of the band of HMS Liverpool. According to Bobo, who was there (of course), ‘Lilibet was wildly excited and kept saying, “Oh! Thank you, thank you! That was sweet but who are you?”’ She was answered by a second chorus of the song, harmonised by the officers’ Glee Club, then a burst of bagpipes. Bobo reported to Dickie Moutbatten – whose Flag Officer had been responsible for organising the surprise birthday greeting – that ‘Lilibet first went white, then quite red, and ended up with tears in her eyes.’”

Elizabeth: An Intimate Portrait by Gyles Brandreth

This was the home movie the Snowdons’ made as a gift for the Queen on her thirty-ninth birthday in 1965.

We had tea at the castle & then saw Walt Disney’s film ‘Pinocchio’. Very good.

King George VI diary entry, Windsor, 21 April 1940 (The tea & film were to celebrate Princess Elizabeth’s fourteenth birthday.)

An Empire News Bulletin showing the first photos of Princess Elizabeth, future Queen Elizabeth II, following her birth on 21 April 1926.

Hi,

It's been a while since I've logged on to my Tumblr, does anyone know what happened to the page 'philibet excerpts'.

Philibet fandom*

Hey! She deactivated :(

However, she [the Queen] is entirely forgiving of honest mistakes, such as that of an unfortunate first lady of Finland. Sylvi Kekkonen accompanied her husband, Urho, on his 1969 state visit to London as Finnish president. Unfortunately, she muddled up her medication, took a sleeping pill instead of her heart pill, and had to be gently propped upright by the Duke of Edinburgh and Princess Anne for the duration of the carriage procession to the palace. 'The Queen still loves telling that story,' says a former official.

‘Queen of Our Times: The Life of Queen Elizabeth ll’ by Robert Hardman (2022).

“At dusk one evening (in Ceylon), as we watched the flying foxes and deep, dark black clouds gather over the Governor’s House, we were diverted by a noise of jingling bells as a beaming Prince Philip arrived with nine elephants he had managed to waylay for the Queen to see.”

Daughter of Empire: My Life as a Mountbatten by Lady Pamela Mountbatten

On 10 April 1957, the Queen and Prince Philip attended a white tie event hosted by President René Coty and Mrs. Germaine Coty at Louvre’s Salle des Cariatides.

The Queen wore a blue-green gown with floral embroidery on its bodice, designed by Norman Hartnell for this occasion.

As for the jewelry, she wore the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland tiara, the Greville chandelier earrings and diamond festoon necklace, which she often wore together, and the True Lover’s Knot brooch.

“When lockdown was lifted, Philip and Elizabeth, having spent more time close together than they had done in years, decided it rather suited them. They left Windsor together and travelled up to Balmoral for their traditional summer break. When it was over, they went back to Sandringham — but not the big house. Instead, together they went to live at Wood Farm, Philip’s favourite bolt-hole, the ungrand, unpretentious place he regarded as his home on the Sandringham estate.

Then, for the last time, they returned together to Windsor Castle, where Philip’s mother had been born way back in 1885 and where, on the morning of Friday 9 April 2021, Philip ended his days.”

Philip: The Final Portrait by Gyles Brandreth

Prince Charles On The Footplate

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh are greeted by Prince Charles, who is standing on the footplate of the narrow guage steam engine 'Hurricane' during a visit to the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway in Kent, April 1st 1957. (Photo by Paul Popper/Popperfoto via Getty Images/Getty Images)

jmidy: Over the years, we have climbed many mountains together. As a family, we will climb this one with you too ⛰️ ❤️

“The six weeks’ trip from coast to coast was a wonderful, gay experience for us all. At city after city as we crossed the great continent I was always attracted to the joke shops, and the Duke was swift to take advantage of my purchases to play pranks on the Princess. In the end she said to me: ‘John, please don’t play any more tricks on the Duke, because he has frightened me to death.’

A tin of “mixed nuts” which the Duke left on the Princess’ desk for several days gave her a shock when a snake sprang out of it. And as the train puffed its way across Canada he chased the Princess down the corridor wearing the most horrible-looking set of false teeth I had ever seen!”

John Dean, Argus, 19 March 1954, page 9

Thank you for your kind wishes and continued support over the last two months.

Wishing everyone a Happy Mother's Day. C

📸 The Prince of Wales, 2024 (X)

March 1964: The Queen and her family, shortly after the birth of Prince Edward.

On 24 February 1942, Princess Elizabeth was appointed as the Colonel of the Grenadier Guards.