Why the Queen's father banned Prince Philip's family from the royal wedding

Publish date: 2024-06-04

The wedding took place in 1947

The Queen and Prince Philip tied the knot in 1947, and the royal wedding had a mammoth guest list of 2,500 people, but it did not include the Duke of Edinburgh's sisters, who were actually forbidden from attending by order of the King.

reported that his three sisters were declined an invite to the royal wedding because they had all married German princes. The wedding was a mere two years after the end of World War II and tensions were still high in Britain.

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All four of Philip's sisters, Princess Margarita, Princess Theodora, Princess Cecilie, and Princess Sophie, married into German royalty, but Cecile sadly passed away in a plane crash in 1937, 10 years before her brother would marry a British royal.

WATCH: The Queen and Prince Philip's love story retold

As reported in interview, Lady Pamela Hicks, Prince Philip's cousin, has since spoken out about the controversial decision. "So soon after the war, you couldn't have the Hun," she said, going on to report that she thought Philip himself understood the sacrifice.

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Princess Sophie, one of Prince Philip's sisters

However, the shun wasn't as well received the other end, with Lady Pamela confessing that the sisters asked: "Why weren't we allowed to come to your wedding?"

The royal wedding was a massive affair 

For those who were in attendance, the royal wedding was a magical affair, beginning when Princess Elizabeth, just 21 at the time, walked down the aisle in Westminster Abbey.

The bride wore a stunning lace gown made by Sir Norman Hartnell, and their iconic day, which played out like a fairytale, also included a 9ft tall wedding cake which was cut with the Duke's Mountbatten sword (a wedding present from The King).

The couple had a 9ft wedding cake

The couple made history for having the longest marriage of any British sovereign, and the Queen has always spoken very highly of her 'rock' who sadly passed away on 9 April, aged 99.

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