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 third 10 years. This decade witnessed a kind of "opening up" of the Royal Family through the modernizing leadership of Prince Philip and with assistance from The Queen's brother-in-law, the Earl of Snowdon, who planned a rather space-age-influenced investiture for the Prince Charles as the Prince of Wales. Philip had campaigned for his cousin-in-law to produce a behind-the-scenes documentary about the "real" Royal Family, which has only been shown once in its entirety. While this film was very popular and helped people see the family as a family, many experts credit it for letting too much daylight in upon the magic (to paraphrase Walter Bagehot). It is also seen as tempting the media to come in too closely and leading to the view of the royals as celebrities in the celebrity culture that would develop in the coming decades. Nevertheless, Elizabeth and Philip's marriage and family remained strong. Daughter Anne married a commoner who refused to take a title. On Nov. 15, 1977, just days before their 30th anniversary, she presented them with their first grandchild, the title-free and rather plainly named Peter Phillips. No pomp there.
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