Elizabeth II

=== Marriage ===
{{Main|Wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Philip Mountbatten}}
Elizabeth met her future husband, [[Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark]], in 1934 and again in 1937.{{Sfnm|ps=none|Brandreth|2004|1pp=132–139|Lacey|2002|2pp=124–125|Pimlott|2001|3p=86}} They were [[Cousin#Cousin chart|second cousins once removed]] through [[King Christian&nbsp;IX of Denmark]] and third cousins through [[Queen Victoria]]. After meeting for the third time at the [[Britannia Royal Naval College|Royal Naval College]] in [[Dartmouth, Devon|Dartmouth]] in July 1939, Elizabeth—though only 13 years old—said she fell in love with Philip, who was 18, and they began to exchange letters.{{Sfnm|ps=none|Bond|2006|1p=10|Brandreth|2004|2pp=132–136, 166–169|Lacey|2002|3pp=119, 126, 135}} She was 21 when their engagement was officially announced on 9&nbsp;July 1947.{{Sfn|ps=none|Heald|2007|p=77}}

The engagement attracted some controversy. Philip had no financial standing, was foreign-born (though a [[British subject]] who had served in the [[Royal Navy]] throughout the Second World War), and had sisters who had married German noblemen with [[Nazi]] links.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Edwards |first=Phil |date=31 October 2000 |title=The Real Prince Philip |url=https://www.channel4.com/history/microsites/R/real_lives/prince_philip_t.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100209095416/https://www.channel4.com/history/microsites/R/real_lives/prince_philip_t.html |archive-date=9 February 2010 |access-date=23 September 2009 |publisher=[[Channel 4]] |mode=cs2}}</ref> Marion Crawford wrote, "Some of the King's advisors did not think him good enough for her. He was a prince without a home or kingdom. Some of the papers played long and loud tunes on the string of Philip's foreign origin."{{Sfn|ps=none|Crawford|1950|p=180}} Later biographies reported that Elizabeth's mother had reservations about the union initially and teased Philip as "[[Hun (pejorative)|the Hun]]".<ref>{{Multiref|{{Cite news |last=Davies |first=Caroline |date=20 April 2006 |title=Philip, the one constant through her life |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1400208/Philip-the-one-constant-through-her-life.html |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220109050110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1400208/Philip-the-one-constant-through-her-life.html |archive-date=9 January 2022 |access-date=23 September 2009 |work=The Telegraph |location=London |ref=none |mode=cs2}};{{Cbignore}} | {{Harvnb|Brandreth|2004|p=314}}}}</ref> In later life, however, she told the biographer [[Tim Heald]] that Philip was "an English gentleman".{{Sfn|ps=none|Heald|2007|p=xviii}}

[[File:Huwelijk Prinses Elisabeth, Bestanddeelnr 902-4693 (cropped).jpg|thumb|At Buckingham Palace with Philip after their wedding, 1947]]
Before the marriage, Philip renounced his Greek and Danish titles, officially converted from [[Greek Orthodoxy]] to [[Anglicanism]], and adopted the style ''Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten'', taking [[Mountbatten family|the surname of his mother's British family]].{{Sfnm|ps=none|Hoey|2002|1pp=55–56|Pimlott|2001|2pp=101, 137}} Shortly before the wedding, he was created [[Duke of Edinburgh]] and granted the style ''His Royal Highness''.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=38128 |date=21 November 1947 |page=5495 |nolink=y |mode=cs2}}</ref> Elizabeth and Philip were married on 20&nbsp;November 1947 at [[Westminster Abbey]]. They received 2,500 wedding gifts from around the world.<ref name="news1">{{Cite web |date=18 November 2007 |title=60 Diamond Wedding anniversary facts |url=https://www.royal.gov.uk/LatestNewsandDiary/Factfiles/60diamondweddinganniversaryfacts.aspx |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101203033258/https://www.royal.gov.uk/LatestNewsandDiary/Factfiles/60diamondweddinganniversaryfacts.aspx |archive-date=3 December 2010 |access-date=20 June 2010 |publisher=Royal Household |mode=cs2}}</ref> Elizabeth required [[Rationing in the United Kingdom|ration coupons]] to buy the material for [[Wedding dress of Princess Elizabeth of the United Kingdom|her gown]] (which was designed by [[Norman Hartnell]]) because Britain had not yet completely recovered from the devastation of the war.{{Sfnm|ps=none|Hoey|2002|1p=58|Pimlott|2001|2pp=133–134}} In [[Post-war Britain (1945–1979)|post-war Britain]], it was not acceptable for Philip's German relations, including his three surviving sisters, to be invited to the wedding.{{Sfnm|ps=none|Hoey|2002|1p=59|Petropoulos|2006|2p=363}} Neither was an invitation extended to the Duke of Windsor, formerly King Edward&nbsp;VIII.{{Sfn|ps=none|Bradford|2012|p=61}}

Elizabeth gave birth to her first child, [[Prince Charles]], in November 1948. One month earlier, the King had issued [[Letters patent (United Kingdom)|letters patent]] allowing her children to use the style and title of a royal prince or princess, to which they otherwise would not have been entitled as their father was no longer a royal prince.<ref>{{Multiref|Letters Patent, 22&nbsp;October 1948; | {{Harvnb|Hoey|2002|pp=69–70}}; {{Harvnb|Pimlott|2001|pp=155–156}}}}</ref> A second child, [[Princess Anne]], was born in August 1950.{{Sfn|ps=none|Pimlott|2001|p=163}}

Following their wedding, the couple leased [[Windlesham Moor]], near Windsor Castle, until July 1949,<ref name="news1" /> when they took up residence at [[Clarence House]] in London. At various times between 1949 and 1951, Philip was stationed in the British [[Crown Colony of Malta]] as a serving Royal Navy officer. He and Elizabeth lived intermittently in Malta for several months at a time in the [[Hamlet (place)|hamlet]] of [[Gwardamanġa]], at [[Villa Guardamangia]], the rented home of Philip's uncle [[Lord Mountbatten]]. Their two children remained in Britain.{{Sfnm|ps=none|Brandreth|2004|1pp=226–238|Pimlott|2001|2pp=145, 159–163, 167}}