Wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Philip Mountbatten

Royal nuptials at Westminster Abbey, attended by the great and good including King George VI and Winston Churchill

It's 20 November 1947, and Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor, spinster, ties the knot with Philip Mountbatten, bachelor, in a lavish ceremony at Westminster Abbey - filmed for the benefit of cinema audiences not invited to the big do. A Mexican wave of curtsies follows the 21-year-old future queen as she glides up the aisle, followed by her parents and other dignitaries including Winston and Clementine Churchill. The whole affair is rather solemn, but the newlyweds do crack a smile at the end as they pose for the cameras.

These crisp images have presumably detached themselves from a longer film, but were acquired by the BFI National Archive as part of a mixed 16mm reel of assorted royal weddings lacking any titles or other information.