Queen Mother had secret plan to stop Elizabeth marrying Prince Philip: report

Queen Elizabeth II's mother reportedly wanted her to marry another man before Prince Philip, according to a new report.

As per claims in a book, Hugh, Earl of Euston, was considered a potential match before Philip won the young princess' heart.

Hugh, who later became the 11th Duke of Grafton, was considered a potential match for the young princess feel in love with Philip.

"The Queen Mother was very keen that [her daughter] should marry a Grenadier Guard," royal historian Hugo Vickers claimed.

Vickers, author of "Queen Elizabeth II: A Personal History," told Fox News Digital, "Queen Elizabeth and Princess Margaret, as young girls, were contained in Windsor Castle during the war. 

"With all of these Grenadier Guards around the place, the queen mother was very much hoping — she placed a number of Grenadier Guards, as it were, on Princess Elizabeth’s path. She would have loved her to marry Lord Euston. I think it was slightly in the cards at one point, and that could have happened."

In 1943, Hugh was "reserved for a higher destiny — the very throne itself," according to the book, citing Sir Henry "Chips" Channon, a politician whose diaries chronicled what people in royal and high-society circles were saying at the time.

"The Queen Mother may well have preferred an English aristocrat," royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams told the out let.

In the book, Lady Brigid Guinness told Channon that while Hugh was pursuing her, she believed he would wind up with the young Princess Elizabeth because "she likes him."

The book also suggests Hugh fell out of favour because the royal family came to see him as too passive.

By October 1943, Channon was writing that the royal family had encouraged the Euston romance but dropped him as "too inert and énervé." Billy Whitaker, a Grenadier Guard at Windsor, also told Channon that he thought Hugh hadn’t been seriously considered, whereas Philip was.

"I think it was a much better choice that Queen Elizabeth married Prince Philip," said Vickers.

"Prince Philip was a breath of fresh air. He had a very good naval career during the war. He was bursting with ideas. They feared he would be a modernizer. They were absolutely right. I think the Duke of Grafton, a charming and cultured man, would not have been a modernizer or a vibrant influence on how to move the House of Windsor forward."

"Thirteen-year-old Princess Elizabeth fell head over heels with 18-year-old Philip on that crucial fine weekend of July 1939," she explained.

"She was so amazed by the handsome, athletic Philip. A smitten Elizabeth kept a photograph of Philip in her bedroom."

"Despite Princess Elizabeth’s heart set on Philip, her parents thought he was a brash, totally unsuitable match," said Chard.

Elizabeth, according to claims in the book, steadfastly refused to look at anyone else.

It reveals: "If anyone was a possible match, it was Lord Porchester, nicknamed "Porchie." At least he had a passion for horse racing. However, their relationship was platonic."

"Determined, Princess Elizabeth eventually convinced her father to allow her to marry Philip after a royal tour of South Africa," said Chard.

"King George VI realized that ‘distance made the heart grow fonder.’ Princess Elizabeth, now 21, didn’t forget about Philip. She missed him more."

"The king was not enamored with Philip, who he saw as a rather brash young man," claimed royal broadcaster Ian Pelham Turner.