The Queen and Prince Philip are due to mark their platinum wedding anniversary on Monday, and have a very special celebration planned. The couple, who have been married for 70 years, will host a family dinner at Windsor Castle. The state apartments will be closed all day, Windsor Castle's official website notes, perhaps to give the royals as much privacy as possible. Members of the royal family who are expected to attend include the Queen and Prince Philip's four children – Prince Charles, who has just celebrated his 69th birthday this week, Princess Anne, 67, Prince Andrew, 57, and Prince Edward, 53. Prince Charles and his wife Camilla will have just returned from their tour of the Caribbean.
The Queen's older grandchildren including Princes William and Harry, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, Zara Tindall and Peter Phillips will also likely join the festivities, as will William's wife Kate, who is expecting their third baby, Zara's husband Mike Tindall and Peter's wife Autumn Phillips.
The couple are hosting a special dinner on Monday
The Queen and Prince Philip's love story in pictures
The Queen and her Prince originally met at the Royal Naval College in Dartmouth in 1939 when the Queen was just 13-years-old, and began exchanging letters before eventually becoming formally engaged in 1947, following her 21st birthday. The royal pair married later in the same year. The monarch was crowned just five years after their wedding following the death of her father King George VI, who died aged only 56.
Prince Philip and the Queen have been married for 70 years
When her Majesty was still a Princess, she revealed an insight into their courtship. In a letter to author Mrs Betty Shew, who was writing a book called Royal Wedding as a souvenir of their marriage, she confirmed that they would dance together at nightclubs Ciro's and Quaglino's in London. On their golden wedding anniversary, she also said: "He is someone who doesn't take easily to compliments. But he has, quite simply, been my strength and stay all these years. I and his whole family, in this and many other countries, owe him a debt greater than he would ever claim or we shall ever know."