70 Facts about The Queen and The Royal Family

Queen Elizabeth II celebrates her Platinum Jubilee on 2nd June 2022 marking 70 years as sovereign. To celebrate here are 70 facts about the Queen and members of The Royal Family.

• Queen Elizabeth’s full name is Elizabeth Alexandra Mary
• Before she became Queen she was styled as Her Royal Highness The Princess Elizabeth and upon her marriage, she became Her Royal Highness Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh 
• She had a younger sister Princess Margaret who passed away in 2002
• When the Queen was a child a GirlGuides unit was created specifically for her so she could mix with girls her own age. The meetings were held at Buckingham Palace 
• The Queen has owned more than 30 corgis 
• The Queen’s wedding dress was paid for using ration coupons 
• Queen Elizabeth’s nickname is Lilibet which is what her family call her in private
• On the morning of her wedding, the Queen’s tiara broke and the jeweller who made it was rushed to Buckingham Palace by police escort to repair it
• The Queen and Prince Philip are actually third cousins as they are both great-great-grandchildren of Queen Victoria 
• The Queen receives over 70,000 letters per year.
• Although most of the Queen’s correspondence is read and replied to by her Ladies in Waiting, the Queen sometimes selects a couple of letters to read and reply to herself
• Members of the Royal Family are not allowed to sign autographs
• The first 6 people in the line of succession to the throne cannot marry without the Queen’s permission 
• The Queen is the only person in the UK who is allowed to drive without a driver’s licence 
• They open their Christmas presents on Christmas Eve because the Queen believes Christmas Day is a religious day
• The Royal Family buy each other joke Christmas presents. For example, Princess Anne once bought Prince Charles a leather loo seat
• The Queen has banned The Royal Family from playing Monopoly as she feels it becomes too vicious
• Queen Elizabeth worked as a mechanic during World War 2 
• When World War 2 was declared over in 1945 The Queen and a Princess Margaret joined the crowds of people partying outside Buckingham Palace and even joined a line of people linking arms to dance along Whitehall 
• 17 British monarchs are buried in Westminster Abbey
• The Queen is reportedly a fan of Coronation Street and Downton Abbey
• At dinner, the Footman are instructed to take the plates away as soon as the Queen has finished eating
• The Queen sent her first email in 1976 and her first Tweet in 2014
• Queen Elizabeth keeps a personal diary which she writes in every single day 
• One time when the Queen was staying at Balmoral Castle in Scotland she went for a walk around the nearby village. Some tourists mistook her for a local resident, asked if she lived nearby and if she has ever seen the Queen. She smiled, pointed at her bodyguard and said “No but he has”
• The Queen did not attend school and was instead taught at home by a governess and private tutors 
• When staying at Balmoral Castle, the Queen sometimes orders a fish and chips takeaway from a local fish and chip shop. A Footman is sent to collect the order so no one knows who it is really for
• The Queen uses her handbag to send signals to her staff. If she wishes a conversation she is having with someone to end she will move her bag from one arm to the other 
• The Queen did not want her coronation to be televised as she felt it went against tradition. Eventually, she and Prince Philip agreed to allow cameras as long as there were no close-ups of her 
• Younger members of The Royal Family such as The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will pose for selfies but The Queen will always refuse a request for a selfie 
• Queen Elizabeth does not need to pay income tax but chooses to do so voluntarily 
• The Queen cannot be prosecuted or give evidence in court however a statement from Buckingham Palace says that The Queen takes great care to ensure all of her activities are in accordance with the law
• The Queen owns an apartment in New York City 
• Any gifts that are given to any member of The Royal Family become property of the Monarchy, therefore, it is for the Queen to decide what happens to them
• Members of The Royal Family are sometimes gifted animals. When this occurs The Queen donates them to London Zoo 
• The Queen always wears bright colours so that she can easily be spotted in crowds 
• A new breed of dog was created when one of the Queen’s corgis mated with a Dachshund thus creating a ‘Dorgi’
• The Queen, Prince Philip, Prince Charles and Prince William all speak fluent French
• Queen Elizabeth has 8 Grandchildren and 12 Great-Grandchildren
• Windsor Castle was originally built in the 11th century by William the Conqueror 
• The Queen has worn the same brand of nail polish since 1989
• Members of The Royal Family including the Queen are allowed to vote in UK elections however choose not to in order to remain politically neutral 
• The Queen’s reign has seen 14 Prime Ministers 
• 1992 is regarded by the Queen as her ‘Annus Horribilis’ which is Latin for ‘horrible year’. That year saw Prince Charles, Prince Andrew and Princess Anne divorce and the fire at Windsor Castle 
• The Queen loves Scottish country dancing and each year at Balmoral Castle she hosts a Ghillie’s ball where members of The Royal Family, staff and local residents are invited 
• The Queen once demoted a Footman for putting whisky and gin in one of her corgi’s food as a prank. The corgi sadly died of alcohol poisoning 
• Members of The Royal Family who do not have a title use the surname Mountbatten-Windsor 
• The Queen is woken every morning by a bagpiper who plays beneath her window 
• When The Royal Family travel together their luggage is colour coded so staff know which cases belong to who 
• The Queen spends a couple of hours each day working from her red boxes which contain parliamentary papers and other documents for her to read and sign 
• All gifts sent to The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge for their wedding were donated to charity 
• Some members of The Royal Family including the Queen have smartphones and communicate with each other using text message
• There are rumours that Queen Elizabeth has a secret Facebook account 
• The Royal Family’s security officers use codenames when speaking about the Royals over the phone or radio so that anyone listening will not know who they are talking about 
• Queen Elizabeth is Britain’s longest-reigning monarch
• Approximately 4,000 Acts of Parliament have received Royal Assent from the Queen
• The first official portrait of the Queen was painted in 1933 when Her Majesty was just 7 years old
• In 1997, the Queen launched the first Buckingham Palace website 
• The Queen hates the taste of garlic so much it is never included on the menu at Royal dinners or banquets 
• If the Queen is in residence at Buckingham Palace the Royal Standard is flown. However, if the Queen is not in residence the Union flag is flown
• Prince Charles is the longest waiting heir apparent and will be the oldest monarch to be crowned
• The Queen (as Princess Elizabeth) made her first solo public engagement on the day of her 16th birthday when she inspected the Grenadier Guards
• At every Royal garden party around 27,000 cups of tea are served 
• The Queen was born at 2:40AM 
• The Queen published her first Instagram post in 2019 
• The Royal Family joined Facebook in 2010 with the launch of a page entitled ‘British Monarchy’
• In 2004, a hologram portrait was created of the Queen made up of 10,000 layered images 
• The Queen has 30 godchildren 
• In 1935 the Queen (then Princess Elizabeth) and her sister Princess Margaret took part in carriage rides through London to celebrate their grandfather King George V’s Silver Jubilee 
• Members of the Royal Family do not take selfies with members of the public, not because of security concerns but because the Queen reportedly does not approve of selfies

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