Elizabeth and Philip Celebrate 60 Years of Marriage

This journal isn't going soft on the British monarchy. The best thing that could happen to the people of the British Isles is to awake tomorrow as citizens of the Federal Republic of Britain. However, two individuals named Elizabeth and Philip have passed a personal milestone worthy of note. It isn't every day that one celebrates 60 years of marriage.

Just making it to the 60th requires one to exceed the life expectancy of most. HRH Prince Philip is 86, and HRM Elizabeth is 81. Granted, they have access to health care that is a bit better than the NHS, but nevertheless, men in the UK live to an average age of 75 while women there live on average to 79.9. years. Had they married 10 years earlier, their achievement would still defy the odds.

Back in 1947, she was a kid, just 21. At 26, he was Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten, if not a war hero, certainly a veteran (like every able bodied man of his age) of World War II. Their wedding, a media event back before the media became a 24/7 problem, announced to a post-war Britain that the Empire may crumble, but there would always be an England.

They contributed 4 children to the post-war baby boom. Of the four, three have been divorced. That isn't a rebuke on their parenting, but rather is an observation that the Windsors aren't all that much different than the Smiths down the road. A royal title doesn't excuse one from the trials and tribulations of everyday life. At the same time, they have had to suffer these episodes in the spotlight, where most people are allowed the peace of anonymity.

Regardless of their children's problems or the difficulties of the family business, the two of them have managed to stay together and apparently still like one another,which any veteran of marriage will say is harder than staying in love. She calls him “Hun,” which might be a reference to the vast number of Germans in his family tree, or it might be a simply shorter version of “Honey.” He calls her “cabbage,” which is not unknown to speakers of French, “ma petite chou,” though it doesn't translate very well into English.

Republican aspirations to one side, this journal looks forward to their 75th anniversary.

© Copyright 2007 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

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