The Queen is set to be remembered by members of the royal family in honour of the first anniversary of her death on Friday.
As King Charles and Queen Camilla look back at her dedication to family, the nation and the Commonwealth at this special event, HELLO! takes a look back at the Queen's last written words to her beloved husband Prince Philip who died in April 2021.
Queen Elizabeth II placed a very special wreath on top of the Duke's coffin for his funeral on 17 April, and it carried a special note which appeared to read: "In loving memory, Elizabeth."
The card was handwritten and edged in black, which follows the mourning rituals of the royal family. The wreath featured white lilies, small white roses, white freesias, white wax flowers, white sweet peas and jasmine.
The Duke of Edinburgh passed away at age 99 on 9 April. The Queen and Philip, who were married for 73 years, were doting parents to four children; King Charles, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward.
When the Queen met her dashing war hero Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, she was a young Princess Elizabeth, heiress to the British throne.
After tying the knot on 20 November 1947, the Princess described her husband in letters to her parents and her cousin as "an angel" and "the best and nicest man in the world".
Meanwhile, Philip said ahead of the wedding: "I am sure that I do not deserve all the good things that have happened to me… to have fallen in love, completely and unreservedly."
He also told biographer Basil Boothroyd: "We used to correspond occasionally. You see, it's difficult to visualise. I suppose if I'd just been a casual acquaintance, it would all have been frightfully significant.
"But if you're related – I mean I knew half the people here, they were all relations – it isn’t so extraordinary to be on kind of family-relationship terms with somebody. You don’t necessarily have to think about marriage."
The Queen sat by herself during the service
He added: "I suppose one thing led to another. I suppose I began to think about it seriously, oh, let me think now, when I got back in ’46 and went to Balmoral.
"It was probably then that we, that it became, you know, that we began to think about it seriously, and even talk about it. And then there was their excursion to South Africa, and it was sort of fixed up when they came back. That’s really what happened."
© GettyIn a speech to celebrate their golden wedding anniversary in 1997, she paid a warm tribute to him, saying: "He has, quite simply, been my strength and stay all these years."
The late Queen's final days were spent without the Duke, who died at Windsor in 2021, but although the Queen told of her great sadness, she said she was comforted by the tributes paid to Philip's "extraordinary impact".
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