Picture of the exact moment 13-year-old Princess Elizabeth first saw future husband Philip

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip were married to each other for over 73 years, but their love is over a decade older than that.

The monarch couple's love story began in 1939, when they had a meet-cute through their families. The queen, then Princess Elizabeth, was just 13 years old at the time and couldn't take her eyes off the dashing 19-year-old Navy Cadet, reports The Sun.

A sweet picture that captures the exact moment the Queen laid eyes on her future husband has resurfaced upon his recent death. It shows Prince Philip of Greece with his head down approaching the young Princess, who is confidently looking up at him.

The picture was taken when the Princess accompanied her parents, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, for a visit to the Royal Naval College at Dartmouth where Prince Philip was also stationed. Their encounter seems almost destined, as Philip was never originally supposed to meet the future Queen.

However, the two naval cadets who were nominated to greet the Princess got mumps, following which Prince Philip was chosen to do the task.

According to Elizabeth's governess, Marion Crawford, Philip was confident and "rather off-hand in his manner," but left his future wife totally impressed. Marion, also known as Crawfie, had written about the interaction in her diary: "I thought he showed off a good deal. But the little girls were much impressed. Lilibet [Elizabeth] said, 'How good he is, Crawfie. How high can he jump?'"

"She never took her eyes off him the whole time," Crawfie wrote.

The exiled Prince of Greece and Denmark was reportedly "polite" with the future Queen and didn't pay her any "special attention," but did tease her younger sister "plump little Margaret."

On the other hand, Elizabeth was completely smitten and had fallen in love, as claimed her father's official biographer, Sir John Wheeler-Bennett. She even kept a photograph of Philip from his posting in the Pacific on her desk.

Just a few years later, in September 1942, a 16-year-old Elizabeth dropped a hint that Philip was "the one." They started exchanging letters and photographs, and dated for a while. Philip spent Christmas 1943 at Windsor Castle, and finally decided to marry.

Philip renounced his Greek title, became a naturalised British subject, and was awarded the title of the Duke of Edinburgh before he married Elizabeth, then 21, at Westminster Abbey in March of 1947.