I was so proud of you and thrilled at having you so close to me on our long walk in Westminster Abbey, but when I handed your hand to the Archbishop I felt that I had lost something very precious. You were very calm and composed during the Service and said your words with such conviction that I knew everything was all right.

I am so glad you wrote and told Mummy that you think the long wait before your engagement and the long time before the wedding was for the best. I was rather afraid you thought I was being hard-hearted about it. I was so anxious for you to come to South Africa, as you knew. Our family, us four, the Royal Family must remain together, with additions of course at suitable moments!! I have watched you grow up all these years with pride under the skilful direction of Mummy, who as you know is the most marvellous person in the world in my eyes, and I can, I know, always count on you, and now Philip, to help in our work.

Your leaving us has left a great blank in our lives, but do remember that your old home is still yours and do come back to it as much and as often as possible. I can see that you are sublimely happy with Philip which is right, but don’t forget us is the wish of

Your ever loving and devoted, Papa

Although years later she remembers the grand ball most vividly, Pamela Mountbatten was also moved by the wedding ceremony. The day itself, she says, passed in a happy blur. Her impression of the royal couple – both related to her – was of two people caught in a fairy tale.

‘Philip was the fairy prince,’ she said. ‘Handsomer than a fairy prince because he was so masculine. And she, with that marvellous complexion, had absolute star quality. With the golden coach and beautiful horses, it was a kind of vision. It poured with rain but the crowd, in that very British way, ignored it and queued all night to get a place. Standing on the balcony afterwards, seeing the enormous crowd rush up to the gates of the palace, was an incredible feeling.’

She recalls the youngest bridesmaid, Princess Alexandra (the bride’s cousin, aged twelve), running around boisterously while the older ones pretended to be appalled. Princess Margaret, being the chief bridesmaid, ‘bossed’ the others around and Queen Juliana of the Netherlands ‘chuntered at how dirty everyone’s jewellery was’.