Queen Elizabeth II has all but verified a long-running rumour about her engagement to Prince Philip, thanks to the release of a never-before-seen photograph.

A number of previously unseen photographs from the Queen's personal archive have been provided by Buckingham Palace and will be featured in a new BBC documentary, Elizabeth: The Unseen Queen, which will be broadcast later this month.

In one of the photographs, the Queen can be seen beaming as she admires her engagement ring, which was taken months before the official announcement was made.

Her Majesty first met Prince Philip in 1939, when she was 13 and he was 18 – when the young prince was invited to spend Christmas with the royal family in 1943.

It had previously been rumoured that the pair had become engaged informally during their stay at Balmoral in the summer of 1946, but they did not make the official announcement until after Princess Elizabeth turned 21 years old.

The Queen and Prince Philip were married in 1947 and had a 73-year marriage before he died in April 2021, just months before his 100th birthday.

Princess Elizabeth shows off her new engagement ring shortly after Prince Philip proposes marriage in 1946. Credit: BBC.
​

For the documentary, which was prepared in celebration of the Queen's forthcoming Platinum Jubilee, hundreds of home recordings were secured of the Queen, Prince Philip, and her parents – chronicling her life from when she was a small girl to the time of her coronation, in 1953.

There will also be footage of the Queen meeting her uncle Prince George The Duke of Kent, who died in a plane crash in 1942, as well as footage of King George VI's final visit to Balmoral in 1951, which will be included in the film.

In a statement, the BBC's commissioning editor for history, Simon Young, said the programme provided an "amazing view into a highly personal side of the royal family that is rarely seen."

Elizabeth: The Unseen Queen will be released in the United Kingdom on 29 May. That is just days before the annual Trooping the Colour military parade in central London kicks off a four-day celebration of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee on June 2.

On subsequent days, there will be a thanksgiving service at St Paul's Cathedral, a concert outside Buckingham Palace, and a pageant through the British capital. Events across the Commonwealth will commemorate the Queen's 70th year on the throne.

In Australia, this will include the lighting of a Platinum Jubilee Beacon in Canberra, as well as the illumination of buildings and monuments across the country in royal purple.

Do you have plans already for the Queen's upcoming Platinum Jubilee?

 

[Ricci]

I'm presuming the celebrations will be shown on tv over here in which case I will be glued to the box. I just hope the Queen will be well enough to enjoy the celebrations and to take part in as many as possible.

 

[Joydie]

Royal rumour confirmed in new unreleased photos of the Queen​

Queen Elizabeth II has all but verified a long-running rumour about her engagement to Prince Philip, thanks to the release of a never-before-seen photograph.

A number of previously unseen photographs from the Queen's personal archive have been provided by Buckingham Palace and will be featured in a new BBC documentary, Elizabeth: The Unseen Queen, which will be broadcast later this month.

In one of the photographs, the Queen can be seen beaming as she admires her engagement ring, which was taken months before the official announcement was made.

​

Her Majesty first met Prince Philip in 1939, when she was 13 and he was 18 – when the young prince was invited to spend Christmas with the royal family in 1943.

It had previously been rumoured that the pair had become engaged informally during their stay at Balmoral in the summer of 1946, but they did not make the official announcement until after Princess Elizabeth turned 21 years old.

The Queen and Prince Philip were married in 1947 and had a 73-year marriage before he died in April 2021, just months before his 100th birthday.

Princess Elizabeth shows off her new engagement ring shortly after Prince Philip proposes marriage in 1946. Credit: BBC.
​

For the documentary, which was prepared in celebration of the Queen's forthcoming Platinum Jubilee, hundreds of home recordings were secured of the Queen, Prince Philip, and her parents – chronicling her life from when she was a small girl to the time of her coronation, in 1953.

There will also be footage of the Queen meeting her uncle Prince George The Duke of Kent, who died in a plane crash in 1942, as well as footage of King George VI's final visit to Balmoral in 1951, which will be included in the film.

​

In a statement, the BBC's commissioning editor for history, Simon Young, said the programme provided an "amazing view into a highly personal side of the royal family that is rarely seen."

Elizabeth: The Unseen Queen will be released in the United Kingdom on 29 May. That is just days before the annual Trooping the Colour military parade in central London kicks off a four-day celebration of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee on June 2.

​

On subsequent days, there will be a thanksgiving service at St Paul's Cathedral, a concert outside Buckingham Palace, and a pageant through the British capital. Events across the Commonwealth will commemorate the Queen's 70th year on the throne.

In Australia, this will include the lighting of a Platinum Jubilee Beacon in Canberra, as well as the illumination of buildings and monuments across the country in royal purple.

Do you have plans already for the Queen's upcoming Platinum Jubilee?

What a woman! The epitome of grace and class.

 

[JayKay]

I will be looking for everything I can see, I will tape one channel while watching another if possible.
I admire the Queen.....may God grant her good health to see this through.

 

[Esma Rose]

What a beautiful regal and witty woman Our Queen is. I grew up in a family who adored her. Had all the books that were printed in our time. I am her age ,I married just before her & her first two children are the same ages as mine. My sister & brother all had children including myself named after her sister too' such as Rhonda Margaret, Heather Margaret, and Margaret Elizabeth. She IS an inspiration to whoever she meets & Prince Philip put the icing on the cake with his humour. I think many of us will and ARE missing him so much. Esma Rose