Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip first laid eyes on each other at a family wedding when the queen was only a child, and when they next saw each other in their teenage years, it was reportedly love at first sight. The two were married at Westminster Abbey in 1947, thus beginning the longest-running royal marriage in the history of the British monarchy. So why did they live in separate houses? Late in his life, Prince Philip moved into a cottage at Sandringham, where he spent his last years reading, painting, and cooking. Meanwhile, the queen stayed at Buckingham Palace. What caused this royal split? Here's the real reason Prince Philip didn't live with the queen.
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00:00Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth were married on November 20, 1947, at Westminster Abbey.
00:06They first met at a family wedding, when the future queen was only a child,
00:10but were reintroduced as teenagers, at which point the queen reportedly fell in love on the spot.
00:16The two were destined to become the longest-married royal couple in British history,
00:20and even after 70 years together, royal biographer Ingrid Seward wrote,
00:24"[The queen's face lights up when Philip enters a room.]
00:27Like the queen, Prince Philip was known for being headstrong and opinionated.
00:32In public, the Duke of Edinburgh was often frightfully unafraid of speaking his mind,
00:36perhaps because he knew his place, that of the country's most famous stay-at-home husband.
00:41The year he retired, in 2017, the prince made headlines after joking that he was
00:46the world's most experienced plaque unveiler.
00:49You've never seen a world's most experienced plaque unveiler."
00:54One thing many people might not know about Prince Philip, however,
00:58is that he actually moved out of Buckingham Palace late in his life,
01:01taking up residence in a farm manager's cottage called Wood Farm,
01:05located on the grounds of the Royal Residence of Sandringham.
01:08He had reportedly stopped living with the queen after retiring from public life at the age of 96.
01:14In 2020, as COVID-19 swept through the UK, the press reported that Queen Elizabeth and
01:20Prince Philip had reunited to live together at Windsor Castle for the first time in two years.
01:25In truth, Prince Philip was most likely at his happiest when not living with the queen.
01:30When he retired, gossip columns even ran a story suggesting that the move had been,
01:34in part, the queen's idea. At the time, an anonymous source told one tabloid,
01:39"[She knows him too well. If he was still at the center of royal life,
01:43he'd feel he had to be involved. Being at Wood Farm means he's not too far away,
01:48but far enough to be able to relax."
01:50Prince Philip's dislike of Buckingham Palace is well documented,
01:54with reports claiming that he once compared the palace's architecture to that of a hospital.
01:59Certainly, the palace was never a place where the Duke of Edinburgh could actually relax.
02:03According to Charlie Proctor, editor of Royal Central, it was viewed as a workplace by the duke.
02:09It is in the middle of noisy central London and perhaps doesn't offer the same peaceful
02:14tranquility as Windsor Castle or Sandringham House. But moving out of Buckingham and into
02:19a farmhouse didn't mean that Prince Philip gave up the luxuries of royal life. In fact,
02:24the Daily Star reported that the prince had a house of staff to attend to his needs,
02:28including two pages, a footman, a chef, a housekeeper, a valet, and a security detail.
02:34While Prince Philip may not have lived with the queen during his retirement, however,
02:38that doesn't mean they ever lost touch. In 2019, The Express reported that the Duke of
02:42Edinburgh and his wife spoke daily via telephone. And if the news that Prince Philip and Queen
02:47Elizabeth technically lived separately might surprise some, royal followers will know that
02:52the pair have often spoken of wanting to live a life that's less formal than that of a monarch
02:57and her consort. In fact, the queen joined Prince Philip at his cottage pretty much whenever she
03:02could. Before Philip's death, royal biographer Penny Junor told the Daily Beast that the couple
03:07had always been this way, saying,
03:09"...they are very modest. They like being in a smaller, cozier house and not having to have
03:14all the staff. We may dream of living in a palace surrounded by flunkies, but they dream of being
03:19like us."
03:20During his retirement, Philip spent his days reading and watercolor painting,
03:24but he also likely enjoyed spending time at the grill. As Robert Hardman wrote in his biography
03:30on Queen Elizabeth, the Duke of Edinburgh was a brilliant and innovative cook. Hardman wrote,
03:35Prince Philip would relish the prospect of setting up his barbecue in the unlikeliest
03:39spots and cooking anything that took his fancy.
03:42All in all, it sounds like Prince Philip's final years weren't too bad at all.