A beautiful image, shared by Buckingham Palace last Friday to mark the Queen and Prince Philips’s 73rd wedding anniversary, shows the couple looking proudly at card made for them by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s three children.
Prince George, seven, Princess Charlotte, five, and even two-year-old Prince Louis, spent hours creating the colourful greeting card, which features a carefully coloured in large number 73 on the front and is decorated with spots of red, blue, yellow, green and purple.
The picture was taken by Getty Images’ royal photographer, Chris Jackson, in the Oak Room at the royal residence and shows a picture of cosy domesticity that the public so rarely get to see.
In a sweet nod to her husband, the Queen wears the same sapphire and diamond brooch she sported for their honeymoon photo shoot in 1947. She had been given the piece the previous year by Sir James Laing & Sons Limited and the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company Limited when she launched the British Princess oil tanker.
The Queen and Philip’s sofa is comfy rather than grand, littered with cream and red cushions to compliment the gold tasselled curtains pulled back to show a sweeping view of the castle vista.
On the low, glass-topped table in front of them is an array of cards and letters sent by well-wishers to congratulate them on reaching such a remarkable milestone.
As usual, Philip – ramrod straight – belies the fact that he is in his 100th year; he turned 99 on June 10.
He is smartly dressed in grey pressed trousers and a blazer jacket with pocket handkerchief.
The elderly royal is also sporting a Royal Navy blue and burgundy stripped tie, with the only hint of his advancing years a discreet hearing aid in his ear.
The Queen, 94, is, as usual, immaculate in a pale blue double wool crepe dress by Stewart Parvin, and a piece of jewellery with meaning for the occasion, the Chrysanthemum Brooch.
The sapphire and diamond piece, set in platinum, was worn by the then Princess Elizabeth, in images taken on her honeymoon at Broadlands in Hampshire in 1947.
The brooch was a gift to then-Princess Elizabeth for launching the British Princess oil tanker in 1946.
The brooch was given by Sir James Laing & Sons Limited and the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company Limited. She wore it often in the early years, before her collection grew.
She also wore it in images taken to mark her and the Duke’s 60th wedding anniversary in 2007.
Her Majesty has also worn it during other significant events in her life, both professional and personal, including in 1950 for a portrait with Prince Philip, Prince Charles, and a baby Princess Anne.