At seven o’clock on the morning of the wedding, John Dean (Prince Philip’s valet) had tapped on the Duke of Edinburgh’s bedroom door at Kensington Palace where he was staying and entered with his tea. ‘He woke at once and was plainly in great form, extremely cheerful and in no way nervous,’ Dean recalled. ‘There had been a wedding rehearsal the previous day so we all knew exactly what we had to do, and the split-second timings of the day’s arrangements were clear in my mind.’

After Philip had dressed and breakfasted on coffee and toast, the valet gingerly handed him his sword, realising they were ready far too soon. ‘How the Duke resisted the temptation to light a cigarette I do not know,’ Dean recalled. ‘He had given up the habit, as from the previous night, and did not complain.’ Despite the early hour, Philip and David Milford Haven, his best man, or supporter as they are called in royal circles, downed a gin and tonic to toast the last moments of Philip’s bachelorhood.

On the eve of their wedding, the King had admitted Lieutenant Mountbatten RN to the royal family by making him a Knight Companion of the Order of the Garter and authorising him to use the appellation of ‘Royal Highness’ that he had surrendered on his naturalisation as a British subject. The King had also granted him the Dukedom of Edinburgh, which had originally been created by George II in 1727 for Prince Frederick, his son and heir.

Back at Buckingham Palace, the princess’s maid Margaret ‘Bobo’ MacDonald had for once not had to wake ‘her little lady’ as she always called her. The princess was already up and sitting in her dressing gown by the window looking at the crowds. ‘I can’t believe it’s really happening, Crawfie,’ she said to Marion Crawford, her old governess, who joined her by the window. ‘I have to keep pinching myself.’

By 11.25, Prince Philip and David Milford Haven had taken their places inside the abbey to await the arrival of the bride and the King.

Eileen Parker was a guest with her slightly hungover husband Mike (he had been at Philip’s stag party the night before), and she recalls the moment: ‘As we sat down, the organ began to play Elgar’s Concerto in C Major. Suddenly, the vast congregation stood again and I wondered whom it could be for. Princess Elizabeth was timed to leave the palace at 11.03 precisely to reach the abbey by 11.28. Turning around slightly, I could glimpse Winston Churchill with his wife walking slowly down the aisle. It was a thrilling experience to see them so close.’