It is 80 years since Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip met at the Britannia Royal Naval College in Dartmouth.

In July 1939, the 13-year-old princess was the daughter of the visiting King George VI.

While Prince Philip of Greece was a naval cadet and the nephew of the King’s aide-de-camp Captain Louis Mountbatten.

The 18-year-old was asked to join the royal party at the college and on the Royal Yacht moored on the Dart.

It was during the visit that he and Princess Elizabeth played croquet, had tea and it’s suggested the royal romance began.

"This is the catalyst; this is where it all starts," Dr Jane Harrold from the Britannia Museum told the BBC.

"They had met before, but this was the first time they had any quality time to spend together, and Elizabeth has since written that it’s the first time she remembers meeting Philip.

"It’s from this point that she’s in regular correspondence with him and that carries on throughout the war.

“It’s a bit of a slow burner but then that’s what you might expect given Elizabeth’s age at the time."

The captain of the college, Sir Fredrick Dalrymple-Hamilton, recorded the visit in his diary.

He mentioned tea of "traditional raspberries and cream mixed with strawberry ice" on Saturday, July 22, and croquet on the lawn of the captain’s house the following day.

In this picture, from the Britannia Museum, you can see Princess Elizabeth playing croquet, while her future husband is on the far right of the group.

The pair married in November 1947, when he was aged 26 and she was 21.

The couple were together for five years before she became queen in February 1952.

They went onto to have four children: Prince Charles, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward.

For more information on the Britannia Museum, visit the website: https://bit.ly/2OxSfUs