Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth were married
on November 20th, 1947, at Westminster Abbey. They first met at a family wedding when the
future queen was only a child, but were reintroduced as teenagers, at which point the queen reportedly
fell in love on the spot. The two were destined to become the longest-married
royal couple in British history, and, even after 70 years together, royal biographer
Ingrid Seward wrote: "The queen's face lights up when Philip enters
a room." Like the queen, Prince Philip was known for
being headstrong and opinionated. In public, the Duke of Edinburgh was often
frightfully unafraid of speaking his mind, perhaps because he knew his place: that of
the country's most famous stay-at-home husband. The year he retired, in 2017, the prince made
headlines after joking that he was "the world's most experienced plaque-unveiler." "You're now seeing the world's most experienced
plaque-unveiler." One thing many people might not know about
Prince Philip, however, is that he actually moved out of Buckingham Palace late in his
life, taking up residence in a farm manager's cottage called Wood Farm, located on the grounds
of the royal residence of Sandringham. He had reportedly stopped living with the
queen after retiring from public life at the age of 96. In 2020, as COVID-19 swept through the UK,
the press reported that Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip had reunited to live together
at Windsor Castle — for the first time in two years. In truth, Prince Philip was most likely at
his happiest when not living with the queen. When he retired, gossip columns even ran a
story suggesting that the move had been, in part, the queen's idea. At the time, an anonymous source told one
tabloid: "She knows him too well, if he was still at
the center of royal life he'd feel he had to be involved. Being at Wood Farm means he's not too far
away, but far enough to be able to relax." Prince Philip's dislike of Buckingham Palace
is well documented, with reports claiming that he once compared the palace's architecture
to that of a hospital. Certainly, the palace was never a place where
the Duke of Edinburgh could actually relax. According to Charlie Proctor, editor of Royal
Central: "[It was] viewed as a workplace by the Duke. It is in the middle of noisy Central London,
and perhaps doesn't offer the same peaceful tranquility as Windsor Castle or Sandringham
House." But moving out of Buckingham and into a farmhouse
didn't mean that Prince Philip gave up the luxuries of royal life. In fact, the Daily Star reported that the
prince had a house of staff to attend to his needs, including two pages, a footman, a chef,
a housekeeper, a valet, and a security detail. While Prince Philip may not have lived with
the queen during his retirement, however, that doesn't mean they ever lost touch. In 2019, The Express reported that the Duke
of Edinburgh and his wife spoke daily via telephone. And if the news that Prince Philip and Queen
Elizabeth technically lived separately might surprise some, royal followers will know that
the pair have often spoken of wanting to live a life that's less formal than that of a monarch
and her consort. In fact, the queen joined Prince Philip at
his cottage pretty much whenever she could. Before Philip's death, royal biographer Penny
Junor told the Daily Beast that the couple had always been this way, saying: "They are very modest. They like being in a smaller, cozier house,
and not having to have all the staff. We may dream of living in a palace surrounded
by flunkies, but they dream of being like us." During his retirement, Philip spent his days
reading and watercolor painting — but he also likely enjoyed spending time at the grill. As Robert Hardman wrote in his biography on
Queen Elizabeth, the Duke of Edinburgh was a "brilliant" and "innovative" cook. Hardman wrote: "Prince Philip [...] would relish the prospect
of setting up his barbecue in the unlikeliest spots and cooking anything that took his fancy." All in all, it sounds like Prince Philip's
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