When and where did The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh first meet?
What was Princess Elizabeth’s wedding ring made from?
Where did Prince Philip have his stag night?
How many grandchildren do the Royal Couple have?

Find out the answers to these questions and more in our 60 facts section.

  1. The Queen’s wedding dress was designed by Sir Norman Hartnell.  Norman Hartnell submitted designs for the dress in August 1947.
  2. The fabric for the dress was woven at Winterthur Silks Limited, Dunfermline, in the Canmore factory, using silk that had come from Chinese silkworms at Lullingstone Castle.  
  3. After the wedding, the dress was exhibited at St James’s Palace and was then shown in the capital towns of the British Isles and in Glasgow, Liverpool, Bristol, Preston, Leicester, Nottingham, Manchester, Bradford, Leeds and Huddersfield.
  4. The bride’s wedding bouquet was supplied by the Worshipful Company of Gardeners and made by the Florist Mr MH Longman.  It was of white orchids with a sprig of myrtle from the bush grown from the original myrtle in Queen Victoria’s wedding bouquet.  An identical copy of the bouquet was made and presented to The Queen on her Golden Wedding in 1997.
  5. The grave of the Unknown Warrior was the only stone that was not covered by the special carpet in the Abbey. The day after the wedding, Princess Elizabeth followed a Royal tradition started by her mother, of sending her wedding bouquet back to the Abbey to be laid on this grave.

  1. The eight bridesmaids were: HRH The Princess Margaret, HRH Princess Alexandra of Kent, Lady Caroline Montagu-Douglas-Scott, Lady Mary Cambridge, Lady Elizabeth Lambart, The Hon. Pamela Mountbatten, The Hon. Margaret Elphinstone, The Hon. Diana Bowes-Lyon.
  2. The bridesmaids wore wreaths in their hair of minitaure white sheaves, Lilies and London Pride, modelled in white satin and silver lame. They were made by Jac Ltd of London. The pages wore Royal Stewart tartan kilts.
  3. The bridesmaids’ bouquets, prepared by Moyses Stevens, were of white orchids, Lilies of the Valley, Gardinias, White Bouvardia, White Roses and White Nerine.
  4. The bells of St Margaret’s Church, Westminster Abbey, hailed the arrival of the carriage procession. The Queen arrived at the Abbey with her father, George VI, in the Irish State Coach.
  5. Other music at the wedding included: Psalm 67 (God be merciful unto us and bless us) sung to a setting by E.C.Bairstow; the motet “We wait for thy loving kindness, O God” by Dr William McKie, Organist and Master of the Choristers of the Abbey; the hymn “The Lord’s my shepherd” (to the then relatively unknown Scottish tune Crimond); the anthem “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” by S.S.Wesley was sung by the Abbey choir and members of the choirs of the Chapel Royal and St George’s Chapel Windsor; and after signing the register in St Edward’s Chapel, the procession made its way out of the Abbey to Mendelssohn’s Wedding March..


Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh with their eight bridesmaids in the Throne Room at Buckingham Palace following their wedding in November 1947.
© Press Association

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