Kdo se je poročil s Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh?

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 1921 – 9 April 2021), was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II and served as consort of the British monarch from her accession on 6 February 1952 until his death in 2021, making him the longest-serving royal consort in British history.

Philip was born in Greece into the Greek and Danish royal families. His family was exiled from the country when he was 18 months old. Educated in France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, he joined the Royal Navy in 1939 at the age of 18. In July 1939, he began corresponding with Princess Elizabeth, then aged 13, the elder daughter and heir presumptive of King George VI. During the Second World War, Philip served with distinction in the Mediterranean and Pacific fleets of the Royal Navy.

In the summer of 1946, King George VI granted Philip permission to marry Elizabeth, who was then 20. Prior to the official announcement of their engagement in July 1947, Philip renounced his Greek and Danish royal titles and styles, became a naturalised British subject, and adopted the surname Mountbatten from his maternal grandparents. In November 1947, he married Elizabeth, was granted the style "His Royal Highness", and was created Duke of Edinburgh, Earl of Merioneth, and Baron Greenwich. They had four children: Charles, Anne, Andrew, and Edward. Following Elizabeth’s accession to the throne in 1952, Philip left active naval service, having attained the rank of commander. In 1957, he was formally created a British prince.

A keen sportsman, Philip played a significant role in the development of the equestrian discipline of carriage driving. He served as patron, president, or member of more than 780 organisations, including the World Wide Fund for Nature, and was chairman of The Duke of Edinburgh's Award, an international youth awards programme for people aged 14 to 24. Philip was the longest-lived male member of the British royal family. He retired from public duties in 2017 at the age of 96, having completed 22,219 solo engagements and delivered 5,493 speeches since 1952. He died at Windsor Castle two months before his 100th birthday.

Elizabeta II. (izvirno angleško Elizabeth II; rojena kot Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor), kraljica Združenega kraljestva Velike Britanije in Severne Irske ter voditeljica držav skupnosti narodov Commonwealtha, * 21. april 1926, London, † 8. september 2022, grad Balmoral, Škotska, Združeno kraljestvo/Velika Britanija.

Elizabeta se je rodila v Londonu, kot prvi otrok vojvode Yorškega in vojvodinje Yorške, kasnejšega kralja Jurija VI. in kraljice Elizabete, kjer se je zasebno izobraževala doma. Njen oče je prevzel prestol po abdikaciji svojega brata kralja Edvarda VIII. leta 1936, kot naslednji prestolonaslednik. Že v obdobju med drugo svetovno vojno je začela opravljati javne dolžnosti. Leta 1947 se je poročila s princem Filipom, vojvodo Edinburškim, nekdanjim princem Grčije in Danske, s katerim sta imela štiri otroke: Charlesa/Karla III.; Anne, kraljevsko princeso; princa Andrewa, vojvodo Yorškega; in princa Edwarda, grofa Weseškega.

Vladala je kot ustavna monarhinja, v obdobju, ko je prišlo do velikih političnih sprememb, decentralizacije v Združenem Kraljestvu, kanadskega patriation ter dekolonizacije v Afriki. Med leti 1956 in 1992 so se mnoga nekdanja kronska ozemlja osamosvojila, vključno z Južno Afriko, Pakistanom in Cejlonom. Njeni številni obiski in srečanja vključujejo zgodovinske državniške obiske Republike Irske in obiske ali sprejeme petih papežev. Med pomembnejšimi dogodki so bili njeno kronanje leta 1953 in praznovanja srebrnega, zlatega in diamantnega jubileja v letih 1977, 2002 in 2012. Med 21. in 23. oktobrom 2008 je obiskala Slovenijo.

Elizabeta II. je bila kraljica v šestnajstih neodvisnih državah Commonwealtha: Združeno kraljestvo Velike Britanije in Severne Irske, Kanada, Avstralija, Nova Zelandija, Jamajka, Barbados, Bahami, Grenada, Papua Nova Gvineja, Salomonovi otoki, Tuvalu, Sveta Lucija, Sveti Vincencij in Grenadine, Antigva in Barbuda, Belize in Sveti Krištof in Nevis). V skladu z westminstrskim statutom iz leta 1931 so vse te države enakovredne in nobena ni nadrejena drugim.

Kraljica Združenega kraljestva, Kanade, Avstralije, Nove Zelandije, Cejlona in Pakistana je postala po smrti svojega očeta, kralja Jurija VI., 6. februarja 1952. Formalno je vladala okoli 128 milijonom ljudem v 17 državah, kot vodja Skupnosti narodov je načelovala skoraj 2 milijardama. Prav tako je imela naslednje položaje: vodja Britanske zveze narodov (British Commonwealth?), vrhovna poglavarka Anglikanske cerkve, gospodarica? otoka Mann.

Bila je najdlje vladajoča vodja države na svetu (po smrti tajskega kralja Bhumibola Adulyadeja oktobra 2016). 9. septembra 2015 je presegla svojo praprababico Viktorijo in postala najdlje vladajoča britanska monarhinja vseh časov. Prav tako je pred svojo smrtjo dosegla drugo mesto najdlje vladajočega evropskega monarha, za francoskim kraljem Ludvikom XIV., ki je vladal slabi dve leti dlje od nje.

Elizabeta se je občasno soočala s republikanskimi kritiki kraljeve družine, zlasti po razpadu zakonskih zvez njenih otrok in "strašnega" leta 1992, ter smrti njene snahe, valižanske princese Diane leta 1997. Vendar pa je podpora monarhije vedno bila in je še vedno visoka, tako kot njena osebna popularnost. Umrla je 8. septembra 2022 na gradu Balmoral v krogu družine.