Behind the Queen's diamond wedding is the extraordinary untold story of how her marriage was almost scuppered by Philip's links to one of Hitler's closest henchmen....

[T]he marriage of Elizabeth and Philip, though a popular fairy tale in the glamour-starved years of post-war austerity and now regarded as a source of stability to Britain's monarchy, was by no means hailed with rejoicing in royal circles 60 years ago.

In fact, evidence that is still held off-limits in secret archives suggests that it almost never happened at all.

The little group of ex-royals to whom I have referred were described in the media as"Prince Philip's distant German relations".

Relations, yes. Distant, no.

They were Philip's nieces and nephews, the children of his sisters, all three of whom were excluded from receiving invitations to the royal wedding in 1947, owing to the fact that their husbands were German officers, in some cases with strong Nazi connections.