Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip will celebrate their platinum wedding anniversary on November 20, marking 70 years since they married in the splendour of Westminster Abbey.
Despite three of their four children (Charles, Anne and Andrew) having divorced, this royal union has endured through the decades without any public hint of marital strife.
Now, they join a small club of couples who have spent seven decades together.
No events are planned to celebrate their landmark, but the bells of Westminster Abbey will ring at 1300 GMT in tribute.
Elizabeth and Philip will spend the day with other members of the royal family, a Buckingham Palace spokesman told AFP.
After 70 years of marriage it’s a burgeoning clan, with four children, eight grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
They expect to welcome a sixth great-grandchild in April, when Prince William and wife Kate Middleton’s third child is due.
The 96-year-old Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, retired from the public eye this summer, enjoying his newfound free time reading and painting.
For her part the Queen, at 91, is slowly passing over some of her official duties to her son Prince Charles, now aged 69.
Source PAULINE FROISSART AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
