It’s a well known saying that if you don’t succeed try again and in the case of King George VI and his pursuit of Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon the merits of perseverance are clear to see.
As it took the Duke of York, then known as Prince Albert or ‘Bertie’, three marriage proposals before the young Scottish aristocrat finally said ‘yes’.
Elizabeth was uneasy about marrying the prince due to her uncertainty about living a life centre stage as part of the Royal Family.
But by marrying the spare rather than the heir, she might have assumed the couple could avoid the spotlight more easily. However, history had other ideas.
On Saturday, it is the 102nd wedding anniversary of when a young Elizabeth and Prince Albert said ‘I do’ and emerged from Westminster Abbey as the new Duke and Duchess of York.
It was a matrimony which broke a lot of conventions.
Elizabeth – while still a member of aristocracy – was not what the Windsors would have considered marriage material at a time when British princes traditionally married princesses from continental Europe.
But the wedding was allowed to go ahead in the spirit of political modernisation and because the then-Prince Albert was only the spare.
Prince Albert, the Duke of York and future King George VI, and Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon on their wedding day on April 26, 1923
The Duke and Duchess of York leave Buckingham Palace for their honeymoon
It was filmed on silent newsreel which gives a glimpse into the day of the wedding. In the footage the newly married couple can be seen on the balcony of Buckingham Palace
The soon-to-be princess then took the 1,800 guests at Westminster Abbey by surprise when she unexpectedly laid her bouquet at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in a tribute to her brother, Fergus, who died in the First World War.
Her dress was very much in the fashion of the 1920s, made from silk and embroidered with pearls and beads.
Dress-maker Elizabeth Handley-Seymour, designed the piece, which boasted a train from both the waist and shoulders.
Over her face Elizabeth wore Queen Mary’s lace veil and, like Queen Victoria, she wore a coronet of orange blossom instead of her tiara.
In keeping with the theme of modernity, the newly formed BBC asked for permission to broadcast the ceremony over the radio.
However, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Randall Davidson, objected to the proposal out of concern that ‘men might listen to it in public houses’.
It was, however, filmed on silent newsreel which gives a glimpse into the day of the wedding.
In the footage, Elizabeth can be seen leaving Bruton Street, in Mayfair, on her way to the Abbey and getting into a horse-drawn carriage.
Lady Elizabeth with her parents the Earl and Countess of Strathmore (left) and the Duke of York’s parents King George V and Queen Mary (right)
The Daily Mail’s coverage of the wedding included photographs of the bridesmaids and other leading figures at the ceremony
Elizabeth’s dress was very much in the fashion of the 1920s made from silk and embroidered with pearls and beads, which was designed by Elizabeth Handley-Seymour
Later on, the newly married couple can be seen on the balcony of Buckingham Palace – surrounded by the Royal Family – as they wave to their well-wishers.
The Duke did not at this moment expect to inherit the Crown and so his wedding was more low-key than if he had been heir to the throne.
Even so, royals from around Europe gathered for the event.
Among them were King Alfonso XIII and Queen Ena of Spain, King Haakon VII and Queen Maud of Norway and Queen Marie of Romania.
For their honeymoon, the couple travelled to Polesden Lacey manor house in Surrey.
The future King and Queen’s journey down the aisle was far from a straightforward.
When George first proposed to Elizabeth in 1921, she turned him down due to her misgivings about royal life.
In response, Elizabeth told him afterwards in a letter: ‘It makes me so miserable to think of it – you have been so very nice about it all – please do forgive me.’
The couple exchanged vows at Westminster Abbey before 1,800 guests. Above: The Duke and Duchess of York standing side-by-side before the Archbishop of Canterbury Randall Davidson
A postcard celebrating the wedding of Prince Albert, later King George VI, and Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon
His second proposal came in March, but again he was rebuffed.
Telling him he was one of her ‘best & most faithful friends’, she said she was ‘so terribly sorry about what happened yesterday’.
The Duke was now in despair, fearful that the only woman he wanted to marry may never agree.
However, the pair continued seeing each other, including at successive shooting weekends at Glamis and Elizabeth’s English family home, St Paul’s Walden Bury in Hertfordshire.
Friends and acquaintances were now aware that the Prince was in love with Elizabeth.
In January 1922, he took her to dinner and again proposed, having told his friend the Duchess of Devonshire that it would be ‘the last time’ that he would do so.
This time, she said she needed time to think about it.
It was during another shooting weekend at St Paul’s Walden Bury that she finally said yes.
The then-Duke and Duchess of York in 1931 at Royal Ascot. By 1930 they had two daughters, Princess Margaret, born that year, and Princess Elizabeth, born in 1926
Elizabeth and George with a young Princess Elizabeth in 1927, less than a decade later the Duke and Duchess of York then became King George VI and and Queen Elizabeth and their daughters became heir and spare
Writing to a friend, she said: ‘I feel terrified now that I’ve done it – in fact no one is more surprised than me.’
On the day that news of their engagement appeared in the Press, a member of the household at St Paul’s told the Daily Mail: ‘The engagement was a great surprise to everybody here.
‘It was pretty well known that the Duke was very, very fond of Lady Elizabeth, but as to her feelings towards him little was known.
‘Last weekend, though, after the proposal, she was all smiles and it was easy to see that she was very happy indeed.
‘Everybody in the neighbourhood is tremendously glad, for Lady Elizabeth is such a sweet girl and everybody loves her.’
By 1930 they had two daughters, Princess Margaret, born that year, and Princess Elizabeth, born in 1926. They had largely settled into life as the spare, assuming the Crown would never be placed atop of the duke’s head.
But destiny had other plans when, following King George V’s death, King Edward VIII’s desire to marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson sparked the biggest constitutional crisis in centuries.
Bertie found himself thrust on to the throne when Edward abdicated for the union. The Duke and Duchess of York then became King George VI and and Queen Elizabeth and their daughters became heir and spare.
George VI and the Queen on their honeymoon. Integral to the success of the King’s reign was the deep bond he shared with his wife
King George’s reign was one that saw the brutal upheaval of the Second World War – and by his side throughout was Elizabeth.
At the outbreak of war in 1939, there were suggestions that the Queen and her daughters could be evacuated to Canada. But a defiant Elizabeth shut this rumour down by saying: ‘The children won’t go without me. I won’t leave the King. And the King will never leave.’
The Royal Family therefore lived through the Blitz alongside the rest of London.
After the war, the King and Queen faced the challenge of uplifting a population that had been battered and bruised.
While King Edward had been regarded by figures such as Archbishop of Canterbury Cosmo Gordon Lang as desperately unsuited to be King – which he demonstrated during his eight tumultuous months on the throne – George emerged as a successful and much-loved monarch.
Integral to this success was the deep bond he shared with his wife, a woman who became a loyal lieutenant to her daughter when she inherited the throne after George’s death in 1952.
Despite the sadness of his loss aged 56, the Queen Mother would commit herself to royal duties for much of the rest of her own life – demonstrating how the initial doubts she had about entering royal service were misplaced.
