In this daily series, we will countdown the last week until the 70th wedding anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip The Duke of Edinburgh (formerly a Prince of Greece). Each day, we will offer just a few snaps from each decade of their marriage.
Today, we celebrate the fifth 10 years. This decade started off well enough with the arrival of two more grandchildren in 1988 and 1990, but soon it became clear that life behind palace walls was not ideal. Elizabeth and Philip's relationship seemed rock steady, but all three of their married children's lives became tabloid fodder. First, it was revealed that no-nonsense Princess Anne had been sending love letters to a member of the royal staff. Her divorce and remarriage to her admirer soon followed. Their second son's wife was alleged to be having too much fun with too many men who were not her husband. When intimate holiday snaps of her with two different men were published, the trip to divorce court was inevitable. Most shockingly and most potentially harmfully, the Prince and Princess of Wales became each other's public enemies, with both of them participating in revealing television interviews and assisting author's with books that painted the others in unflattering ways. In the midst of all of this, the Queen's favorite home, Windsor Castle, caught fire and a public controversy erupted over whether she personally or the public should pay for it. The family was deeply damaged already when the greatest tragedy struck just two months before Philip and Elizabeth's 50th anniversary. The now-divorced Princess of Wales was killed in a car crash. The Royal Family was lambasted for staying out of the public eye for too long while it mourned with her sons at their Scottish home. It was the lowest point of the Queen's entire reign.
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