Britain’s Queen Elizabeth first met Prince Philip when she was 13-years-old.
The 89-year-old royal recalled her first meeting with her now-husband and admits she rarely saw him for the next five years because he was on duty with the Navy in a note to author Betty Shew in 1947.
In the letter, she wrote: "The first time I remember meeting Philip was at the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, in July 1939, just before the war. (We may have met before at the coronation or the Duchess of Kent’s wedding, but I don’t remember).
"I was 13 years of age and he was 18 and a cadet just due to leave. He joined the Navy at the outbreak of war, and I only saw him very occasionally when he was on leave – I suppose about twice in three years.
"Then when his uncle and aunt, Lord and Lady Mountbatten, were away he spent various weekends away with us at Windsor. Then he went to the Pacific and Far East for two years."
The note is just one piece of royal memorabilia up for auction at Chippenham Auction Rooms in Wiltshire, England on April 23.
Auctioneer Richard Edmonds said: "This is a wonderfully well-preserved letter written in the Queen’s hand. It gives a fascinating glimpse into the life of the then Princess Elizabeth at what was such a significant time in her life. The price of a letter like this is very difficult to predict but it could be in the region of £800 to £1,200."
Britain’s Queen Elizabeth recalls first meeting with husband Prince Philip
