Inside Prince Philip and Queen's year of shielding at Windsor as Duke in hospital

Over seven decades The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh have spent long periods apart and lived under the microscope of public scrutiny.

But love has endured, and, in the past year, lockdown has presented them with an impromptu opportunity for the privacy and isolation they have craved all their married life.

Insiders say the royal couple have always harboured a desire to spend their final years living a quiet life together in the country. They went some way to realising their dream after Prince Philip retired from royal duty in 2017, when he spent most of his time at Wood Farm on the Sandringham Estate. Lately, The Queen had been spending an increasing amount of time with him there too.

And fate intervened in the shape of the pandemic last year, which has finally allowed them to spend quiet time together, closer than they have been for years in a bubble at Windsor with a few select staff members.

“The Duke’s relationship with Her Majesty is timeless,” one senior palace source said. “They have seen the country and indeed their own family go through many trials and tribulations in their 73-year marriage and have always faced them together.

“Their union has been a fantastic partnership, one managed with respect and complete admiration for one another.

“The Queen has referred to Philip and ‘my strength and stay’ and that is what their relationship encompasses.

“While the monarch has been the head of the state, the Duke of Edinburgh has remained the head of the family and they have worked together fostering those roles.

“Over the past 11 months they have probably spent more time together than they have in many previous years combined, and they have rather enjoyed it.

“As the country and indeed millions of people were going through a turbulent period they bunkered down together at Windsor, even choosing to spend Christmas alone as so many others did so, unable to see their families.

“The Queen will no doubt speak to the Duke on the phone during his stay but even if there were no Covid restrictions in place, Philip would insist the minimum amount of fuss.”

It is the final, happy chapter of a love story as enduring as any fairy-tale, and arguably the greatest royal romance in history.

During their marriage, Prince Philip, now the longest serving royal consort, has been the rock that anchors his wife in times of turmoil. He once told a close friend that his job, ‘first, second and last’ was never to let his wife down. It is a vow he has faithfully kept.

Their romance began in the summer of 1939 as Britain geared up for war with Germany. Strapping soldier Prince Philip Mountbatten of Greece was 18 and about to embark on a career with the Royal Navy. He was a cadet at Dartmouth’s Britannia Royal Naval College when King George VI visited with his wife and teenage daughters, Princesses Elizabeth, then 13, and Margaret, eight. Philip was tasked with entertaining the teenage royals, who were his third cousins.

Despite his blue blood, Philip had not had an easy childhood. He was born on Corfu in 1921 to Prince Andrew of Greece and Princess Alice of Battenburg. The family were exiled following a military revolt. During the coup they were evacuated and Philip, just 18 months old at the time, was carried to safety in a box.

He moved between relatives in France and Britain and rarely saw his parents who split in 1928. His mother suffered from mental illness was hospitalised for eight years while his father moved to Monte Carlo with his mistress.

Philip eventually went to Gordonstoun School in Morayshire and joined the Royal Navy, where he caught the eye of the young princess.

According to insiders it was love at first sight. Elizabeth was struck by his ‘viking’ good looks, fair hair and blue eyes. Margaret Rhodes, Elizabeth’s cousin, later wrote that ‘Elizabeth was truly in love from the very beginning’.

But Elizabeth was too young to be of romantic interest at the time and for the next five years Philip went to war and saw active service around the world, ending up in Tokyo Bay in 1945 as the Japanese surrendered.

The pair did write to each other however, and their paths crossed occasionally when Philip was on leave and stayed at Windsor Castle with his uncle, Lord Mountbatten, who was keen for his nephew to wed the heir to the throne.

By the time Elizabeth was 19, friendship had blossomed into romance and Philip proposed, but they kept their engagement secret until Elizabeth turned 21 in 1947. They married at Westminster Abbey in November the same year.

Philip had a message inscribed in his bride’s wedding ring, which has remained a secret between the couple to this day. In the first of many sacrifices for his wife, Philip, who was given the title Duke of Edinburgh, renounced his Greek and Danish titles and converted from Greek Orthodox to Anglican.

The newlyweds enjoyed an idyllic early married life, spending time on Malta, where the Duke was stationed with the Navy. In 1948, they had the first of their four children, Charles. Anne followed in 1950. After a gap of 10 years, Andrew arrived in 1960, and finally Edward was born in 1964.

Their lives changed forever when George VI died on February 6, 1952, and Elizabeth became Queen. Philip’s naval career ended, and he became royal consort to his dutiful wife. Initially he struggled with this new role and the protocol he was expected to follow, taking second place to his wife and having to walk behind her on walkabouts.

“I had just been promoted and the most interesting part of my naval career was just starting,” he said. “But... being married to the Queen, it seemed my first duty was to serve her in the best way I could.”

The course of true love hasn’t always run smoothly. There have been unproven rumours of Prince Philip’s infidelity. Indeed, in 73 years of marriage, the royal couple have had faced their fair share of problems including the “annus horribilis” of 1992, which saw the two royal marriage breakdowns, a tell-all book about Princess Diana’s marriage to Prince Charles and a devastating fire at Windsor Castle.

Philip has been a constant symbol of Royal permanence. He joined Charles, William and Harry behind Princess Diana’s funeral cortege in 1997.

That same year they celebrated their Golden Wedding Anniversary and the Queen told the world: “He has, quite simply, been my strength and my stay all these years. I, and his whole family, and this and many other countries, owe him a debt greater than he would ever claim or we shall ever know.”

And Philip also spoke then about what he believes has helped create a long-lasting bond between the pair.

“I think the main lesson that we have learned is that tolerance is the one essential ingredient of any happy marriage,” he said. “It may not be quite so important when things are going well, but it is absolutely vital when the going gets difficult. You can take it from me that the queen has the quality of tolerance in abundance.”

Over the following years he helped the Queen through the deaths of both her mother and sister in the Golden Jubilee year of 2002.

When he turned 90 in June 2011 the Queen demonstrated her affection and gratitude with a new title, Lord High Admiral. It was a fitting tribute to the man who gave up his military career to support devote himself to his wife and royal service.

Throughout the decades, Prince Philip has been The Queen’s rock, always there with guidance and support.

Behind the scenes he been a chief moderniser of ‘the Firm’ and is viewed as head of the family.

And all along the couple have travelled the globe and devoted their lives to public duty with extraordinary commitment. Together they have shouldered the burden of public life with love and good humour. Fittingly, the past year has finally allowed them some well-earned me-time.