Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip were married for nearly 74 years when he died at the age of 99 in 2021, and despite the difficult times that were thrown at them, their marriage stood the test of time. Speaking to author Gyles Brandreth in his book Elizabeth: An Intimate Portrait, one of the late Queen’s childhood friends revealed the secret to their successful relationship.
Lady Myra Butter, who died in 2022, knew both Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip since they were children, and even made the late Queen godmother to her daughter, Sarah. Speaking to Brandreth in 2021, she said that when Philip died, Queen Elizabeth lost “the world, I think,” calling the loss “incalculable.”
“She was madly in love with Philip from the word go—and she loved him as he was,” Lady Butter said. She pointed out that the reason their relationship worked was because the late Queen “didn’t try to change him,” adding, “You couldn’t. She didn’t.”
Lady Butter continued that Queen Elizabeth knew Philip was set in his ways. “She accepted him as he was—and he accepted her as she was. That’s why it worked so well. They respected one another as equals.”
Prince Philip might not have been into horse racing like his wife, and found her dogs to be “infuriating,” but he carried out his own hobbies that Queen Elizabeth didn't feel the need to get involved in, too.
Lady Butter, who Brandreth said “shared with the Queen a lifelong passion for horses, as well as a gift for doing impressions,” reflected on her friend’s change in status from princess to Queen and how that impacted her marriage.
“He walked a step behind her because of that, but he was never a step behind her as a person,” she shared.
