On May 8, 1945, the British public learned about the end of World War II, and a 19-year-old future Queen Elizabeth left Buckingham Palace with her sister, Princess Margaret, to join in the London celebrations for what would eventually come to be called V-E Day. Though she was watching her mother and father wave from the balcony of their grand home, she spent the day just like most other Britons did, wearing the uniform and cap that she donned as a driver and mechanic in the Auxiliary Territorial Service.
On Friday, the queen celebrated the 75th anniversary of that day in a more regal atmosphere, giving a televised address at the same time King George VI gave a radio broadcast in 1945. Surrounded by artifacts from the war, including a photo of her father, she wore a familiar cornflower blue sheath dress and a pair of art-deco Boucheron aquamarine and diamond brooches that she wears often. They silently honored their former owners, her uncle, Prince George, Duke of Kent, and his wife, Princess Marina, two of her family members who gave the most to the British war effort.
In November 1934, George, the fourth son of King George V and Queen Mary, married Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark (a first cousin of Prince Philip); Elizabeth, then 10, served as one of Marina’s train-carriers as her father walked her down the aisle. George was known to be shy but charming, and he was later one of the first members of the royal family to become a civil servant, joining the Royal Navy and the Foreign Office. Marina gained a reputation as a chic socialite, and the couple became close friends with artists and bohemians, including Noel Coward and Cecil Beaton. George bought the aquamarine and diamond brooches at Boucheron’s London store on the last day of July 1937. Marina’s biographer, James Wentworth Day, noted that he often bought her jewels to celebrate anniversaries or family birthdays. It’s not entirely clear what the occasion for the purchase was, but on July 27, Marina was in a minor car accident when on her way to the family’s summer home in Kent.
World War II affected all of the Windsors, but George and Marina were hit especially hard. Some of Marina and Philip’s cousins were married to German officers or otherwise stuck in dangerous territory, so Marina’s mother, Princess Elena, and Philip’s mother, Princess Alice, devoted themselves to giving assistance to the Red Cross and even intervened to save families. When the war broke out in 1939, George and Marina had already sold their house to prepare for a move to Australia, after George was offered a post as governor-general. Their move was delayed when the German invasion began, and the couple decided to join the war effort. George joined the Royal Air Force, working with its inspector-general, while Marina took up an official role as the commander of the Women’s Royal Naval Service. In secret, she also volunteered as a reserve nurse trainee, and spent time at hospitals doing tasks like changing dressings, taking around meals, and washing patients.
Tragedy struck in August 1942, when George died in a plane crash off the coast of Scotland, while discharging his official duties. Marina was considered an official war widow, though in his biography of the Queen Mother, Hugo Vickers notes that she was the only one in the country expected to pay death duties, partially because King George VI promised to financially support her and her three children, Prince Edward, Princess Alexandra, and Prince Michael. (All three are still working members of the family, and Edward, the current Duke of Kent, and Michael both live in Kensington Palace with their wives.)