How Queen Elizabeth Caused Prince Philip, Osla Benning’s Split Years Ago

Queen Elizabeth is partly to be blamed for Prince Philip’s split from his former girlfriend, Osla Benning.

In the book “Young Prince Philip: His Turbulent Early Life,” royal author Philip Eade said that the Duke of Edinburgh was introduced to Benning by a relative. Shortly after, the two got into a serious relationship.

“Uncle Dickie said to me: ‘I don’t think Philip’s got a girlfriend at the moment. I wish you could find a nice girl for him because he doesn’t know anyone… Osla didn’t have a boyfriend at the time, so I said: ‘I know, I’ll get them together,’” Sarah Baring said.

Prince Philip also gave his then-girlfriend a stunning piece of jewelry that Benning wore everywhere.

“I noticed she was wearing a naval cipher as a brooch. They’re jeweled and not the sort of thing you scatter around…‘Oh’, I said. ‘What’s that? Who is it?’ She blushed and ummed and ahhed and eventually said: ‘Well, he’s called Philip.’ ‘Philip who?’ ‘Well, he doesn’t have another name… actually he’s Philip of Greece…’ I’m sure it was a serious thing as far as Osla was concerned,” Baring said.

But on one occasion, Prince Philip went to Windsor Castle with his cousin, David Milford Haven. It was there that he crossed paths with Her Majesty again. The Queen was 17 years old at that time.

While at Windsor Castle, the Queen and the Duke attended dinner parties together, and they also played charades. They bonded throughout the entire time that the dad of four was in the monarch’s home.

Shortly after leaving Windsor Castle, Prince Philip and Benning’s relationship started to drift apart. In July 1943, Prince Charles’ dad visited Windsor again, and he once again crossed paths with the Queen.

After his trip, Prince Philip wrote a letter to the Queen telling him how much he enjoyed spending time with her. The royal couple continuously sent each other letters until the Queen turned 21 and they announced their engagement.