by The Laird o’Thistle
June 21 2009
Among other things, the brouhaha over the failure of the French President to invite the Queen to the observances surrounding the 65th anniversary of D-Day served to highlight that she is the last serving head of state to have actually served in uniform, albeit briefly, in World War II. Also mentioned, more in passing, was the fact that Prince Philip served in the Royal Navy throughout the war. The story of the two of them in those years is of some interest, particularly as Prince Philip turned 88 just days after the D-Day anniversary.
It was 70 years ago, in the summer of 1939, that King George VI and Queen Elizabeth went, with their daughters, to visit the Dartmouth Naval College. The visit was arranged by the late Lord Mountbatten, and one of his little arrangements was for his nephew, Prince Philip of Greece, to be the cadet who would play host to the two young princesses. Philip was 18, Elizabeth was 13, and Margaret was just almost 9. Most accounts mark that as the beginning of the friendship… if not love interest… between young Elizabeth and her distant cousin. The visit occurred in the last fleeting weeks before the outbreak of war. Shortly afterward, the princesses were off to Balmoral, where they remained through the first few months of the war until almost Christmas. Philip spent those months finishing up his training, graduating as the top cadet in his class, and was commissioned as a midshipman in January 1940.
During the war years, the two princesses lived at Windsor Castle with their governess, Marion Crawford. They moved in shortly after the holidays in early 1940. The castle was largely stripped of its fabulous art, furnishings, and chandeliers, and the descriptions make it seem rather grim, cold, and always a bit scary as they could hear and feel the earth shaking from the bombing of London. Ancient dungeons found a new use as air raid shelters. In October of 1940, at age 14, Princess Elizabeth made her first broadcast speech to the children of the British Empire on the BBC’s “Children’s Hour” program.
Meanwhile, after spending about six months serving in the Indian Ocean on ships accompanying convoys of the Australian Expeditionary Force, and other duties, Prince Philip was transferred in the summer of 1940 to serve in the Royal Navy’s Mediterranean Fleet. In 1941 he was involved in the Battle of Cape Matapan, in which he was mentioned in the dispatches, and in the Battle of Crete. Promoted to the rank of sub-lieutenant, in 1942 he served with convoy escorts along the east coast of Britain, and later in the naval support of the invasion of Sicily. In July 1942, during the operation in Sicily, he was promoted to lieutenant, and later in the year achieved the rank of first lieutenant, at age 21. In 1944 Prince Philip was transferred to the Pacific Fleet, where he served in the 27th Destroyer Flotilla. In September 1945 he was present in Tokyo Bay at the Japanese surrender. During these years Prince Philip began exchanging letters with Princess Elizabeth, and Queen Mary is said to have dated the romantic attachment between Prince Philip and Princess Elizabeth to a brief visit he made to Balmoral late in the war.
According to Marion Crawford’s account in The Little Princesses, Princess Elizabeth registered at the Windsor Labour Exchange in 1942 at age 16, as required. And “from that moment she agitated to be allowed to join one of the women’s services.” The King recognized the complications and potential hazards involved in the heir to the throne’s desires but ultimately agreed. Princess Elizabeth went through the training regimen and in early 1945 joined the Women’s Auxiliary Territorial Service as Second Subaltern Elizabeth Windsor. Trained as a driver and mechanic, she drove a military truck and attained the rank of Junior Commander. The only concession made in relation to her status as heiress presumptive to the throne was that she continued to sleep at Windsor, otherwise she followed the full duty rota of the other women in her mess. On V-E Day, 8 May 1945, Princess Elizabeth appeared in uniform, with her parents and Prime Minister Churchill on the balcony at Buckingham Palace. The princesses were later allowed to slip out with a couple of the palace guards and join the celebratory crowds in the streets as they called for the King and Queen to come out to the balcony again. Somewhere around this time, it was noticed that Princess Elizabeth kept a photograph of Prince Philip on her sitting room mantel… and soon the rumors of a royal romance began to grow.
In January 1946 Prince Philip returned to Britain and quickly began to pop around to Buckingham Palace on a regular basis for walks by the lake and quiet suppers, often followed by “hijinks” in the corridors with the teenage Princess Margaret. Later in 1946, Prince Philip spoke to King George of marriage, but the King wished to defer any decision and announcement until after the royal family’s tour of South Africa, and Princess Elizabeth’s 21st birthday.
It was remarked on the 65th anniversary of D-Day on 6 June that the ranks of the veterans who return to France for these anniversaries grow thinner each year. And while it is quite likely that the Queen will still be going strong come the 70th anniversary, many other old soldiers and sailors will have passed from the scene by then. I have been struck by several recent photos of Prince Philip in which the now 88-year-old Prince is beginning to truly show his years. While the Queen cannot have been said to have done a lot in the war, she certainly “did her bit” as allowed by her age and by the powers that be at the time. Prince Philip is really quite another story… having served with distinction through all but the very earliest months of the war. No other couple still on the international stage comes close to matching their experience of World War II. And part and parcel of that experience is their own deep bond of love that began 70 years ago this summer with a schoolgirl’s crush on a glamorous young sailor, which has grown and endured over the ensuing decades. Without entering into the rights and wrongs of the squabbling between and among the French and British governments over who did or didn’t invite this now venerable couple to take part in this year’s commemorations, it seems to me that the really important thing is to take the time to recognize and honor them both, together, while we can. In my opinion, they are truly remarkable.
Yours aye,
Ken Cuthbertson