FASINATING FACTS ABOUT HER MAJESTY
The queen bestowed about 5 000 honours annually.
A monarch can’t be prosecuted or compelled to give evidence in court. However, the queen was careful to ensure that all her activities in her personal capacity were carried out in strict accordance with the law.
The queen celebrated six jubilees: silver (25 years) in 1977, ruby (40 years) in 1992, golden (50 years) in 2002, diamond (60 years) in 2012, sapphire (65 years) in 2017 and platinum (70 years) in 2022. Only the silver, golden, diamond and platinum were major public extravaganzas.
In her diamond jubilee year, the queen opened the London 2012 Olympic Games on 27 July and the London 2012 Paralympic Games on 29 August. She also visited 10 regions in the United Kingdom during the year, embarking on 83 public engagements in 25 days.
Queen Elizabeth remains the only female royal family member to have entered the armed forces and was the only living head of state who officially served in World War 2.
She learnt to drive when she joined the army in 1945 but never had a driver’s licence and was the only person in Britain legally permitted to drive without one. The queen’s cars also didn’t have licence plates.
The queen’s official title was Elizabeth the Second, by the grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and of her other realms and territories queen, head of the Commonwealth, defender of the faith.
The queen was worth around £369 million (R7,5 billion), thanks to investments and jewels and the royal family’s private real-estate holdings.
It’s estimated the queen made lifetime horse-racing winnings of about £7m (R143m).
The queen owned all the unmarked swans in Britain, but unlike her ancestors who prized the birds as a delicacy, she didn’t eat them.
When she received a gift of a rare animal, she would donate it to the London Zoo. Over the years she was gifted an elephant, two tortoises, a jaguar and a pair of beavers.
When the queen’s pooches went to doggy heaven there was a special royal cemetery for them. All her corgis, starting with Susan, the beloved animal that even accompanied her on honeymoon, were buried at Sandringham Estate in Norfolk. The graveyard was first used by Queen Victoria after her collie, Noble, died in 1887. Queen Elizabeth commissioned gravestones for each of her dogs.
Most Britons have never lived under any other monarch: 81% of UK residents weren’t alive when Elizabeth ascended the throne.
There were seven popes during the queen’s reign.
The queen didn’t have a passport as UK passports are issued “in the name of Her Majesty”, which means she would have been issuing one to herself. All members of the royal family, apart from the monarch, require one for their travels.
Before Covid hit, she hosted more than 50 000 people at Buckingham Palace annually at lunches, dinners, banquets and garden parties.
Elizabeth visited 116 countries, making it very likely that she remains the mosttravelled head of state in history.
The queen was said to eat burgers only if they were served without a bun, and always with a knife and fork.