When Queen Elizabeth II first laid eyes on Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, she was just thirteen years old. It was 1939. The setting was the Royal Naval College in Dartmouth. Philip was eighteen, a dashing cadet with blonde hair and a sharp wit. Most people know this as the start of a legendary seventy-year romance. But there’s a question that always pops up at dinner parties or during The Crown marathons: were Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth related?
Yes. Honestly, it’s not even a "sorta" situation. They were cousins.
In the world of European royalty, this isn't the scandal it might seem to a modern audience living in a suburban neighborhood. For centuries, the "Gotha" (the shorthand for European nobility) was basically one giant, interconnected web. Marrying for love was a luxury; marrying for diplomacy and bloodline was the job. Elizabeth and Philip happened to do both.
The Queen Victoria Connection
To understand how they were related, you have to look at Queen Victoria. She was the "Grandmother of Europe." Seriously, she had nine children, and she married them off into almost every major royal house on the continent. This created a genealogical map that looks more like a tangled ball of yarn than a tree.
Elizabeth and Philip were third cousins through Victoria.
How does that work? Let’s trace it. Queen Elizabeth was the great-granddaughter of King Edward VII, who was Victoria’s eldest son. On the other side, Prince Philip was the great-grandson of Princess Alice, Victoria’s third child. Because they shared the same great-great-grandparents (Queen Victoria and Prince Albert), they sit squarely on the same branch of the family tree.
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It’s a bit mind-bending when you realize that Philip was technically born into two different royal lines—Greece and Denmark—but his DNA was deeply British. His mother, Princess Alice of Battenberg, was actually born at Windsor Castle. Imagine that. He was a foreign prince who was, in many ways, coming home when he married into the House of Windsor.
A Second Layer of Family Ties
If third cousins weren’t enough for you, there’s more. They were also second cousins once removed through King Christian IX of Denmark.
This side of the family is often overlooked because we focus so much on the British side. Christian IX was Philip’s paternal great-grandfather. For Elizabeth, he was her great-great-grandfather. This happened because Elizabeth’s grandmother, Queen Alexandra, was the daughter of King Christian IX.
History is funny like that.
While the "third cousin" label usually gets the headlines, these overlapping layers of kinship meant that their family gatherings probably felt a lot more like a reunion than a meeting of two different dynasties. They shared ancestors, traditions, and even a similar sense of duty that was baked into their upbringing.
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Why Royalty Married Relatives
You might be wondering why they didn’t just marry "normal" people.
Back in the day, the Royal Marriages Act of 1772 made it incredibly difficult for British royals to marry whoever they wanted. They needed the monarch's permission. Beyond the law, there was a massive social stigma. Marrying a "commoner" was seen as a threat to the prestige of the throne. By the time Elizabeth and Philip got engaged in 1947, these rules were softening, but the pool of "acceptable" partners was still tiny.
Philip was seen as a safe, though slightly controversial, choice. He had the right blood, but he was "penniless" and his sisters had married German princes with ties to the Nazi party. This caused a huge headache for the Palace after World War II.
The Drama of the Name Change
Because they were related and Philip was a foreign prince, his transition into the British Royal Family wasn't exactly seamless. To marry Elizabeth, he had to give up his Greek and Danish titles. He became a naturalized British subject.
He also took the name Mountbatten.
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This was the anglicized version of his mother’s name, Battenberg. Even though they were related, the optics of a "foreign" husband were tricky. By taking a British-sounding name and becoming the Duke of Edinburgh, the family tried to downplay his continental ties and highlight his service in the Royal Navy.
Living in the Shadow of the Tree
The relation between the two didn't just affect their wedding; it defined their partnership. They spoke the same language of "the Firm."
When you look at the genetic reality, a third cousin relationship involves a very small percentage of shared DNA—roughly 0.78%. In the grand scheme of human genetics, that's not much more than two random people from the same small ethnic group. However, in the fishbowl of the British Monarchy, it meant they shared a collective memory of ancestors like Victoria and Albert. They weren't just husband and wife; they were teammates in a very specific, very strange family business.
Does it matter today?
In 2026, we look at this through a different lens. The modern royals have largely abandoned the practice of marrying within the European royal circle. Prince William married Catherine Middleton, and Prince Harry married Meghan Markle. Both are from non-royal backgrounds. The "requirement" to marry a cousin or a foreign aristocrat is dead.
But for Elizabeth and Philip, their shared lineage was a bridge. It gave Philip a claim to the world he was entering, and it gave Elizabeth a partner who understood the crushing weight of a crown before she even wore it.
Key Takeaways on the Royal Relation
- Common Ancestors: Both descended directly from Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.
- Double Connection: They were related through both the British and Danish royal lines.
- Third Cousins: This is their most cited relationship, sharing great-great-grandparents.
- Historical Context: In the mid-20th century, marrying a distant cousin was standard practice for European royalty to maintain status and alliances.
To truly grasp the history of the British monarchy, you have to stop looking for a straight line and start looking for a web. Elizabeth and Philip were two threads in that web that happened to be tied together by a dozen different knots.
If you want to dive deeper into how these family ties shaped British history, your next step is to research the Royal Marriages Act of 1772. Understanding that law explains exactly why the Queen and Philip ended up together and why the modern royals are finally free to marry for love without checking the family tree first. You should also look into the genealogical records of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha to see how the family name eventually became Windsor.