PRINCESS ELIZABETH TO MARRY SOON

Evening Star, Issue 26149, 10 July 1947, Page 6

PRINCESS ELIZABETH TO MARRY SOON

Engagement to Lieut, Mountbatten Officially Announced (Rec., 10 a.m.) LONDON, July 9. King George to-night announced his consent to the betrothal of Princess Elizabeth and Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten. * . . . i A Court circular, issued from Buckingham Palace to-night, stated: It is with the greatest pleasure that the King and Queen announce the betrothal of their dearly beloved daughter, the Princess Elizabeth, to Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten, R.N., son of the late Prince Andrew of Greece and Princess Andrew (Princess Alice of Battenberg), to which union the King has gladly cjiven his consent. Reuter says the marriage date has not been fixed, but it is indicated authoritatively to-night that the marriage will take place some time before next spring. All conditions of the marriage are controlled by the Royal Marriage Act of 1772. It is under this Act that King George has now given his consent to the betrothal. Later, at a date yet to be decided, he will give his consent to the wedding. _ v

Elizabeth: ;:■■■ Quiet Dignity Befitting a Future Queen

Princess Elizabeth Alexandra Mary, the heiress-presumptive to the British Throne, is to-day the most important young lady in the world. While the war was still in progress she passed from childhood to an age at which, in the words of the King, she should “ have every opportunity of gaining experience in the duties which- would fall upon , her in the event of her accession to the Throne.” The young Princess entered more closely into that official life which is distinct from public engagements. On May 1 1944, when four dominion Prime Ministers ivere guests of the King and Queen at 1 , a dinner party given in their honour at Buckingham Palace 1 , Princess . Elizabeth, . attending a function of this kind for the first time, sat between General Smuts and Mr Mackenzie King. THE FAMILY CIRCLE Many glimpses of the Princess’s happy home life, especially at Windsor, have reached a wide public. In the earliest years of her childhood Princess Elizabeth had spent each birthday at Windsor with Queen Mary. During the war it was at Windsor that the Princesses took part each Christmas in pantomimes and plays, with village children in both cast and audience. As a Girl Guide and later as a Ranger, Princess Elizabeth had the opportunity of finding. acquaintance and friendship in a wide circle . , As in the home, .so in the schoolroom, the Queen has been the guidincr influence in her children’s education. Princess Elizabeth’s early lessons came from a young Edinburgh graduate, Miss Crawford, bringing with her the admirable Scottish precept of plain living and high thinking. With a talent for music, the Princess 'enjoyed becoming an excellent pianist, and "it was a happy circumstance that the first honorary distinction she accepted from a learned body was the presidency of the Royal College of Music. . GROWING UP in growing up, Princess Elizabeth has lost nothing of her charm and eagerness, for it was wisely determined by her father and mother that the pace of her preparations for public duties should never be forced. On her sixteenth birthday, when she fulfilled her first ceremonial duty as Colonel ot the Grenadier Guards, the spontaneous enjoyment of traditional pageantry was apparent in her quiet dignity. The keen interest that she took in training as a Girl Guide, was evident during the war. when she trained for a short time with a niechahical transport section of the A.T.S. . On her twenty-first birthday the King ordered. the appointment of Princess Elizabeth as Colonel-in-Chief of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlaudeis, also as Colonel-in-Chief of the Sixteenth Lancers. Princess Elizabeth owes the wisdom of her upbringing and the happiness of her home life to her parents. In the rejoicing and celebrations that are appropriate and natural to this day, countless thousands among the King’s subjects will be glad to remember that fact.

CROWDS CHEER PRINCESS

(Rec. 10 a.m.) | LONDON, July 9. A meeting of the Privy Council will be held in Auguit before the King and Queen go to BUmoral. His Majesty at this meeting iviU approve the Order in Council setting forth the Sovereign’s consent to the redding. The Heiress to the British Throne, Commonwealth representatives,; members of the Opposition, and leaders of the Church will attend the; meeting. The announcement of the betrothal was given in the ordinary way in a Court circular,; which is the King’s only medium l>f giving information directly to his subjects, f Court circles don’t know exactly when Lieutenant Philip proposed to Princess Elizabeth, but it is believed .that tHe couple reached an “ understanding last autumn, when Lieutenant Philip was at Balmoral. The King’s ionsent was not given until the Royal Family’s return from South Africa. j Lieutenant Philip .and Princess Elizabeth are expected to make their first semi-public appearance together at a Buckingham Palace garden party tomorrow. Lieutenant Philip will stay at Balmoral witlj the Royal Family in August. i FIRST CONGRATULATIONS. The fitet felicitations to arrive at the Palace tame from Mr Attlee and the four dominion Prime Ministers. Lieutenant Pljilip Mountbatten drove to Buckingham Palace in a two-seater sports car this kening, and remained for some time ip the palace. He drove away unrecognised by the large crowd waiting in the lope of seeing Princess Elizabeth and lieutenant Philip, who were expected tl appear on the Palace balcony. r Princess Elizabeth, accompanied by a lady-in-waitini, drove away front the Palace later, was loudly cheered as the car turned dp Constitution Hill.

Philip:

AT DINNER PARTY. Princess Elizabeth, with Lady Margaret Egerton (lady-in-waiting)... attended a private dinner party at the Dorchester Hotel given by Lady Serena James. The Princess was in a yellow

evening gown, with an ermine cape. She arrived quietly and unnoticed by the public. Earlier I to-day tlie Royal party visited the International Horse Show, but without the Queen, who has a slight cold. As the Royal party left the Palace to visit White City, the large crowd, which had waited for their departure despite a heavy thunder storm, surged round the cars, so that they were forced to slow down. Again, when the party returned in the evening, a crowd "gathered at. the Palace gates for a glimpse of . Princess Elizabeth, who sat in the back seat kith Princess Margaret. She waved and smiled as the crowd cheered.

English in Everything But Birth

Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten, formerly prince Philip of Greece (he was naturalised this year), is 25 years old. He formally renounced his right to the Greek throne in 1944. He has spent nearly all His life in Britain, where he made his home with Lord Louis Mountbatten. His father was Prince Andrew of' Greece and Denmark, one of the younger sons of George I. of the Hellenes, and a brother 1 of Queen Alexandra, of Britain. His mother was Princess Alice of Battenberg, the eldest daughter ,of Prince Louis of Battenberg, who became a naturalised British subject, and entered the Royal Navy in 1868. Prince Louis, in 1917, in common with all other members of the Royal family, relinquished, his German name, and assumed that of Mountbatten. He was granted the titles of Marquis of Milfordhaven, Earl of Medina, and Viscount Alderney. v ' Lieutenant Philip is thus the great great grandson of Queen victoria, and a second cousin of the King, and a nephew of Lord Louis Mountbatten. CAREER IN NAVY Tall, straight-featured Prince Philip of Greece, ns he. was then, was born at Corfu and entered the Royal Navy as a cadet in 1939 on the understanding that lie would have to be naturalised before he could take a commission. In 1941 he applied for naturalisation, only to be'told that the regulations were suspended for the duration of the war. He renounced his right to the Greek throne in 1944. He became a British citizen recently. Formerly Prince Philip of Scheswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Gluecksburg, lie is now plain Lieutenant Philip Mounts batten. / When the war broke out he served first in the battleship Ramillies as a midshipman, and subsequently in the cruisers Kent and Shropshire and the battle cruiser Valiant. While serving in the ;i Valiant, during'the Battle of Matapan he won mention in despatches for his work in charge of a searchlight patrol. . , , In February, 1944, he was appointed first'lieutenant of the Whelp, one .of. the largest of the modern British destroyers, and lie served in ber until the "end of the war. , AT SICILY LANDING He was present at the Sicily landing and at the Japanese surrender in Tokio Bay. When appointed to the Whelp, he was one of the youngest officers in the Navy to hold a second coinmand appointment in, that class of .ship. Those who know him describe him as tall, fair complexioned, good looking, and typically English in manner. He speaks English without a trace of foreign accent, and the men who served under him thought their legs were being pulled when they were first told he was a Greek prince.