Queen Elizabeth II was the monarch who broke all records. She was the longest on the British throne, but she also enjoyed unusual privileges. She did not need a passport or a driver’s license. She celebrated her birthday twice a year and owned all the swans and sturgeons in the country, which will now be inherited by her son Charles. Here are twenty unusual facts many people didn’t know about her.
1. News of becoming the Queen of England while in Kenya
She found out she was queen while climbing a tree at the Treetops Hotel in Aberdare Park in Kenya. On that day, she received the news that her father, King George VI, had died.
2. No driver’s license
She did not have a driver’s license but learned to drive during World War II, when she was trained as a truck driver and mechanic.
3. No passport
She did not have a passport, but visited more than 100 countries.
4. First email in 1976
She sent her first email from an army base in 1976, when the Internet was still called Arpanet.
5. She married her third cousin
Her husband, Philip of Edinburgh, is also her third cousin. Both are great-great-grandchildren of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.
6. 40th royal sovereign
She was the 40th royal sovereign of England since William the Conqueror.
7. Full title
Her full title is “Elizabeth II, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and its other Kingdoms and Territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth of Nations and Defender of the Faith”.
8. Dophins, swans, whales and sturgeons
Technically, the queen owned all the dolphins, swans, whales and sturgeons (fish that have been on the planet for 135 million years) within three miles of the coast of the United Kingdom.
9. Unusual gifts
Throughout her reign, Elizabeth received unusual gifts such as a sloth bear, a jaguar from Brazil or a beaver from Canada. These animals are kept at the London Zoo.
10. Wax museum
She is the character of whom the Madame Tussaud’s wax museum in London has made the most figures: 23.
11. Scouts
When the Second World War started, he was a Girl Guide in the Scouts.
12. Incident at Buckingham
In 1982, Michael Fagan, a man with mental problems, entered Buckingham Palace through a window at night and reached Elizabeth II’s bedroom undetected by anyone. When she saw him sitting in her house, the queen told him, “I think you’ve got the wrong room.” The two were chatting until ten minutes later when security arrived.
13. Two birthday dates
Elizabeth II blew out the candles twice a year: on the day of her birth, April 21 in privacy, and during the official celebrations of her birthday, traditionally organized on the second Saturday of June.
14. Neutrality
As head of state, she had to observe strict neutrality in the political sphere, therefore she did not vote and could not stand for election.
15. Corgis
She was a great lover of the corgi, a Welsh short-legged breed. To the point of having bred herself a long line of these dogs, which were allowed to walk freely around Buckingham Palace. She had more than 30 dogs.
16. Forty two times around the world
It is estimated that she traveled the equivalent of 42 times around the world before she stopped traveling abroad in 2015.
17. Fifteen prime ministers
She worked with 15 British prime ministers, from Winston Churchill to Boris Johnson, Margaret Thatcher to Tony Blair. And just a few days before her death, she received Liz Truss.
18. Four popes
He met with four Popes: John XXIII, John Paul II, Benedict XVI and Francis.
19. A pony when she was four
Her grandfather, King George V, gave her a pony when she was four years old, she named it Peggy.
20. Her voice in outer space
The Queen’s voice reached the moon through a message she sent to the Apollo XI mission.
