'Being the Queen' is out now!

New Documentary Reveals Details About The Queen & Prince Philip's First Meeting

A new documentary has now revealed some more details on the Queen's and Prince Philip's first meeting back in 1939. The National Geographic royal special Being the Queen tells the story of Queen Elizabeth II and features over 100 rare audio interviews with family, staff members and many more. Read on to find out more details about the first meeting between the later Queen and her future husband Prince Philip!

National Geographic has released a royal documentary special that reveals some more details on how Queen Elizabeth II and her husband Prince Philip first met back in 1939 when she was just 13 years old. According to Prince Philip's cousin, Lady Pamela Hicks, Princess Elizabeth first laid eyes on Philip when King George VI and the Queen Mother took her and her sister to Dartmouth Naval College.

Being the Queen: How Elizabeth and Philip first met

That was the first time the future Queen and her later husband would meet, and Lady Hicks, whose father was present at the first encounter, says: "I think the princess fell headlong in love with him at that moment," she says in a rare recording and describes the 18-year-old Philip, who was a cadet at Dartmouth at the time, as "this absolute Greek god."

In the royal special, Historian Robert Lacey explains how King George VI and his wife, who had "great anxiety", actually made Elizabeth wait until she was 21 years old before getting engaged. "What parent wouldn't be anxious about a daughter who wants to marry the very first man she's fallen in love with?," he says. The King and Queen needed their daughter to understand that her future husband also was going to "shoulder almost half the burden of the monarchy."

Being the Queen is directed by Emmy-winner Tom Jennings, who also helmed the 2017 special Diana: In Her Own Words. The program also looks at how the relationship between Elizabeth and Philip developed over the years until their eventual wedding in 1947. A friend of Philip's who attended his bachelor party before the wedding remembers Philip like this: "His face was white. This man just began to realize what he was getting into."

The documentary special Being the Queen gives royal fans an intimate look into her Majesty's private life and how it collides with her royal as the regent. The doc first aired on 31 August on the Nat Geo Channel and is also available on demand.