The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh celebrated their Blue Sapphire wedding anniversary today as the monarch notched up yet another landmark in her Diamond Jubilee year.
They are one of around 2,000 couples in Britain who will reach their Blue Sapphire wedding anniversary this year, but the royal couple had no plans for a major celebration, the Daily Telegraph reported.
After attending the Royal Variety Performance in London last night, the Queen and the 91-year-old Duke were to spend a quiet day together.
A spokesman for the Queen said the couple would be "marking the day privately".
But while the 86-year-old Queen may choose not to make a fuss about the landmark, huge changes in social trends during her reign mean the record could stand as long as the monarchy does.
Three of her four children have divorced, having married when they were older than the Queen at the time of her own marriage, mirroring changes which have taken place at all levels of society.
Social historian Steven King, Professor of Medical Humanities at Leicester University, said: "If we look to the future people are certainly going to live longer, but they are not going to get married and those who do get married will tend to leave it much later in life."
"The average age for people getting married is now in their 30s, whereas when Queen Victoria came to the throne the average age for a bride was 22 or 23 at the very latest," he said.
"Coupled with that is the fact that divorce has become much easier and more commonplace since the 1960s and 70s, so the chance of anyone surpassing the Queen's record becomes ever more unlikely," he added.
When the Queen first met Prince Philip in 1939, she was just 13 and he was a naval cadet asked to entertain George VI's daughters as the king visited Dartmouth Naval College. He played croquet with his future bride, who became his pen-pal during the war.
When the couple married at Westminster Abbey in 1947, the Queen had to use ration coupons to buy the material for her dress, designed by Norman Hartnell.
