What Prince Philip Had To Sacrifice To Marry Queen Elizabeth

Having been married for more than seven decades, Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth have undeniably stood the test of time. Unbeknown to many, however, their fairytale-like love story is not as smooth sailing as it seems. In fact, marrying Queen Elizabeth was not an easy decision for Prince Philip to make at first as it meant having to give up his biggest dream.

Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth fell in love with each other at a very young age. When they first met, Queen Elizabeth was still a young princess, while Prince Philip was a dashing soldier with fairly good looks, fair hair and blue eyes. When Prince Philip made the decision to marry the love of his life, he knew it would come at a huge personal cost—and it did.

Making up his mind about marrying Queen Elizabeth did not come easy for Prince Philip because he knew that this would require a lot of sacrifices on his part. Not only would it mean sacrificing his real name, Philip Mountbatten, but it would also mean sacrificing his dream of becoming a military man.

At the time of their marriage, Prince Philip’s career in the military was in its prime. However, he had to set it aside when he married Queen Elizabeth. “Philip’s role as Consort is far from the role he would ideally have chosen, in the navy he would probably have risen high had not the King’s failing health forced him to terminate a promising career,” said royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams.

Shortly after their wedding, Prince Philip had to give up his dream of becoming a navy in order to focus on his royal duties. According to Fitzwilliams, Prince Philip had to shift from being a navy to involving himself in a wide range of activities he completely had no background in, like designing and painting. He was also tasked to found the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme early on in his royal life.

Despite having to sacrifice his dream, Prince Philip was able to find joy in his blissful married life with Queen Elizabeth. Many also commended him for having performed his royal duties to the best of his abilities until his well-deserved retirement in 2017.