Despite the hugely successful celebrations for the Queen's Platinum Jubilee, Prince Philip was a notable absence
It was the first major celebration without the Queen's husband of 73 years, who would be turning 101 today, June 10.
Philip, who the Queen once described as her "strength and stay", died at the age of 99 in April 2021.
The Jubilee served as a reminder to some that the royals are looking ahead to a future without Her Majesty, who is celebrating 70 years on the throne this year at the age of 96.
Such a long marriage defied the odds in a royal household that has seen plenty of couples split from the pressures of the job.
So how did the Queen and her long-time husband actually meet?
When did the Queen and Prince Philip first meet?
The Queen and Prince Philip first met in 1939, the year World War Two broke out, though it wasn't love at first sight as then-Princess Elizabeth was only 13 at the time.
Philip was 18 and a refugee born into the Greek and Danish royal families. He met his future wife when he was "delegated" to look after Elizabeth and sister Margaret after an outbreak of chickenpox or measles at the Dartmouth Naval College.
The young Navy man reportedly impressed Elizabeth when he suggested they go to the college's tennis courts and showed off his athletic ability by jumping over the nets.
It wasn't until much later the two got together properly and the pair corresponded only 'cousinly' over the next few years as Philip was away with the Navy during the war.
Royal historian Christopher Warwick told Vanity Fair: "We have to remember that, during the war, Philip was actually away in the Royal Navy. When he was on leave, he would come and stay with the royal family at Windsor Castle - with his uncle, Lord Mountbatten, and his cousin, Princess Marina, who was Duchess of Kent.
"So he would see a lot of Princess Elizabeth when he was on leave. But otherwise, we’re told that they had a cousinly correspondence."
Were the Queen and Prince Philip related?
The Queen and Prince Philip were distantly related - Philip was Her Majesty's third cousin through Queen Victoria.
Queen Elizabeth is a direct descendant of Queen Victoria, who had nine children with Prince Albert. Victoria's first child went on to become Edward VII, father of George V, whose second son was George VI, the Queen's dad.
Victoria's second child was Princess Alice, born in 1843.
The eldest of Alice's seven children was called Victoria and she married her father's first cousin, Prince Louis of Battenburg, in 1884.
Louis and Victoria had Princess Alice of Battenburg, who was Prince Philip's mother.
Members of Philip's family were reportedly keen on him marrying the Queen from an early age, though George VI is said to have wanted the match to happen naturally.
Warwick added: "There were members of the family who were kind of hoping, if not encouraging, a kind of love match between these two. It was in 1944, when the princess was still a teenager.
