The couple were married on 20 November 1947, and spent more than seven decades together until Philip's death in April, aged 99. Saturday would have been their 74th anniversary.

The Queen, who is 95, has only recently resumed her engagements after spraining her back.

She was forced to miss a Remembrance Sunday service in London last weekend due to the ailment, but was pictured meeting an outgoing general at Windsor Castle on Wednesday.

The death of Philip earlier this year brought an end to the pair's lengthy and storied romance.

Their wedding at Westminster Abbey, when they were still Princess Elizabeth and Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten, attracted worldwide attention and came just five years before Elizabeth would ascend the throne following the sudden death of her father, King George VI.

The couple enjoyed the longest partnership of any British sovereign. Following Philip's death, the Queen said her family was "in a period of great sadness."

"It has been a comfort to us all to see and to hear the tributes paid to my husband, from those within the United Kingdom, the Commonwealth and around the world," she added.