The wedding of Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh on 20 November 1947 was a joyous and beautiful occasion.
The then-Princess and Prince Philip announced their engagement on 9 July 1947 and the wedding took place just four months later at Westminster Abbey.
However, as with most things in life, not everything went as smoothly as planned. According to Lady Pamela Hicks, the Queen’s former lady-in-waiting and bridesmaid at the wedding, there were at least two “catastrophes” during the day’s events.
Speaking in conversation with her daughter, India Hicks, in a virtual event on Friday to mark 70 years of the Queen’s reign this weekend, Lady Pamela detailed the mishaps on the couple’s special day.
The first near-disaster occurred when Her Majesty decided suddenly that she wished to wear pearl necklaces gifted to her by her father, King George VI.
The shorter of the two necklaces is said to have belonged to Anne the last Stuart Queen, and the other to the wife of King George II.
Lady Pamela said: “The Princess suddenly said, ‘Ooh, I’d like to wear the pearls Papa has given me’. Everybody looked at each other and was asking where were the pearls – of course, they were in St James’ Palace where all the presents were shown.
“So somebody had to rush off to St James’ Palace from Buckingham Palace to seize the pearls.”
The close calls didn’t end there, as the Queen’s wedding bouquet also became a subject of panic.
The “wonderful” bouquet, which consisted of flowers supplied by The Worshipful Company of Gardeners and arranged by florist MH Longman, was entrusted to a “very efficient footman”, who put them in a vase with water to keep them fresh, Lady Pamela recalled.
However, they were placed on a table behind doors that hid the bouquet, leading a mild panic to find them.
“It took quite a lot of time to find them,” Lady Pamela added. “Luckily, [the catastrophes] were all solved.”
When asked what the Queen’s reaction to all the commotion around her was, Lady Pamela said: “As always, she was absolutely serene, standing there and letting all the chaos surround her, but paying no attention at all.”
Lady Pamela detailed her years serving the Queen as her lady-in-waiting in a biography that is set to be released in 2023, titled My Years with the Queen: A Remarkable Story of Duty and Friendship.
She is the first cousin to the Duke of Edinburgh and second cousin to the Queen.
The Queen will mark her 70th year on the throne on Sunday 6 February.
