To mark the day, Prince Philip gave the bridesmaids a silver and rose-gold powder compact that he had designed himself. In one of the very few interviews she ever gave, Lady Elizabeth Longman recalled Prince Philip’s brusque way of giving the generous gift as if he was embarrassed, which he almost certainly was. Philip, she said, ‘dealt them out like playing cards. When we compared them, we were very chuffed to see that each one was slightly different but with the initials E and P.’

Pamela Mountbatten added: ‘Mine has six little sapphires down the middle. I used to have it in my bag all the time, but suddenly it’s no longer safe when you’re going on the bus or Tube or walking the streets.’ However, she says the biggest let-down of the wedding day was when Prince Baudouin, heir to the Belgian throne, refused to join the bridesmaids at Ciro’s nightclub, which was where the party moved on to. ‘He was the only other young person around. We all thought: “Tall, dark and a future king.” But he played safe. We thought he was stuffy beyond words for not coming.’

David Milford Haven, Philip’s socialite cousin and best man, had decided on Ciro’s because most of his friends wouldn’t have been seen dead there and he thought the bridesmaids, being so young and unsophisticated, would feel more comfortable in its cosy interior.

As the newly-weds came hand in hand down the great curved staircase of Buckingham Palace to head off for their honeymoon, they were showered with rose petals. Outside, an open landau with two horses waited to take them to Waterloo station to catch the train to Broadlands in Hampshire, the home of Earl Mountbatten. Tucked under the plaid rugs and a couple of hot-water bottles, was the furry form of the Queen’s pet corgi, Susan, who was to spend their honeymoon with them. The guests chased the carriage to the front gates of the palace quadrangle, and even the Queen picked up her skirts and ran to the railings to watch them disappear into the cheering crowds, who had waited so long.

The start of the honeymoon was not an outstanding success. The press did everything in their considerable powers to snatch photographs of the newly-weds. When they arrived at Romsey station, they were followed all eleven miles to the gates of the Broadlands estate. The Mountbattens were away in India, having overseen Partition there, and in their absence things were not run entirely smoothly. On the Sunday morning, when the couple arrived for the service at Romsey Abbey, photographers were so anxious to get a picture they placed stepladders against the walls to look through the windows into the abbey. It was a baptism of fire for the royal couple, but once they were at Birkhall in Scotland, they were left on their own in the most romantic setting possible.