Queen shows off engagement ring in unseen footage released from her personal archive

7 May 2022, 22:25 | Updated: 7 May 2022, 22:41

Never-seen-before footage from the Queen's personal archive has shown her smiling at her engagement ring months before the announcement was made public.

Documentary-makers were granted unprecedented access to hundreds of home-made recordings shot by the Queen, her parents and Prince Philip in honour of her upcoming Platinum Jubilee.

The home movies, which have been held privately by the Royal Collection in the vaults of the British Film Institute (BFI), capture the Queen's life from being pushed in a pram by her mother to her coronation in 1953.

A 75-minute documentary by the BBC, titled Elizabeth: The Unseen Queen, captures the first extended visit of Prince Philip to Balmoral in 1946 while the couple's engagement was still not public.

A young Princess Elizabeth can be seen beaming as she shows the camera her engagement ring.

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The Queen first met naval cadet Prince Philip in 1939, during a visit to the Royal Naval College in Dartmouth where he was studying.

Philip, who was just 18, was introduced to 13-year-old Elizabeth at the house of the captain of the college.

The pair began writing to each other and Philip was invited to spend the Christmas of 1943 with the royal family at Windsor.

It has previously been suggested the couple became unofficially engaged in the summer of 1946 while they were staying at Balmoral but the official announcement was delayed until after Princess Elizabeth reached the age of 21 and returned from a royal tour of South Africa the following year.

The couple wed in November 1947 and were married for 73 years before Philip died in April 2021 - just a few months before his 100th birthday.

Other rare moments set to be revealed in the documentary include footage of Princess Elizabeth with her uncle, Prince George, who died in a plane crash in 1942 while on active service, and the King's last visit to Balmoral in 1951.

Elizabeth will also be shown as a young mother, with the King and Queen taking on the role of grandparents to Prince Charles and Princess Anne.

Simon Young, the commissioning editor for history, said: "This documentary is an extraordinary glimpse into a deeply personal side of the royal family that is rarely seen, and it's wonderful to be able to share it with the nation as we mark her Platinum Jubilee."

The treasure trove of footage will be shown for the first time on May 29.