Читать книгу The Book of Royal Useless Information - Noel BothaM & Bruce Montague - Страница 7
QUEEN ELIZABETH II
ОглавлениеThe Queen was TIME magazine’s ‘Man of the Year’ in 1952.
As a baby, the Queen was pushed around in a cast-iron pram, adorned on the sides with the royal monogram.
The Queen was an 18-year-old mechanic in the English military during the Second World War.
The Queen always writes with a fountain pen which belonged to her father, King George VI.
As a child, the Queen’s favourite toy was a model pony with groomable mane and tail.
After meeting the Queen in 1958, Duke Ellington wrote ‘The Queen’s Suite’ for her. It was recorded and only one copy of the record produced – which he sent to her. On his instructions it was not performed in public until after his death in 1974.
The Queen always travels with her own toilet seat.
It is a popular misconception that the Royal Family cannot vote in political elections. It is only the Queen who is not allowed to vote. Other members of the family merely choose not to.
To get around the Arab tradition of having all-male functions, such as banquets and conferences, the Queen was created an Honorary Gentleman during her visit to the Middle East in 1986.
When the Queen gave birth to Prince Charles, the Duke of Edinburgh presented her with a large bunch of pink carnations.
In the first weeks after their birth, the Queen kept all four of her children in a mahogany wooden crib in her office while she worked during the day. Prince Philip would join them there for meals.
The Queen breastfed all four of her children. She and Prince Philip would take it in turns to bath them.
The only house in England that the Queen may not enter is the House of Commons, as she is not a commoner. At Elizabeth II’s coronation in Westminster Abbey, the Queen Mother and Prince Charles sat on top of the tomb of Anne of Cleves.
Elizabeth II is descended from Henry VII and not, as is generally supposed, from Henry VIII. The line passed via Queen Margaret of Scotland and her granddaughter, Mary Queen of Scots, through to her son, James I of England.
The world’s best pink diamond, weighing 54.5 carats, forms the centrepiece of a flower brooch owned by the Queen.
There are 1,783 diamonds on Britain’s Imperial State Crown. This includes the 309-carat Star of Africa.
The bulk of the Crown Jewels are owned by the State, but the Royal Family privately owns one of the world’s most priceless jewel collections, including many of the largest diamonds, sapphires, emeralds and rubies ever found.
For her 21st birthday, celebrated on tour in South Africa, Elizabeth was presented with a gift of 87 diamonds by the host nation.
Her collection of postage stamps is probably the largest privately held collection in the world.
She learned to drive in 1945 when she joined the wartime army but has never held a driving licence. Her Company Commander described her as ‘a very good and extremely careful and considerate driver’.
‘I’m getting fed up, waiting for it to arrive,’ complained the Queen shortly before Princess Beatrice was born.
The Queen named one of her racehorses Charlton after the brothers Bobby and Jack who helped lead England to victory in the 1966 World Cup.
Her favourite TV shows are Doctor Who, The Last of the Summer Wine, and horse racing.
Her vital statistics are 36–23–35 and she is known to follow a Weight Watchers regimen.
The Queen’s nickname for her grandfather, King George V, was ‘Grandpapa England’.
If the Queen goes shopping, it is always very early, before her store of choice opens to the public.
The Queen and Prince Philip are third cousins through their descent from Victoria, and are also related through King George III and King Christian IX of Denmark.
The Queen was born on a Wednesday.
In 2006, in a film about the royals’ reaction to Princess Diana’s death, Helen Mirren played the Queen.
The Queen’s description of Niagara Falls: ‘It looks very damp.’
The Queen is distantly related to George Washington.
The last time the Queen curtsied was in 1952 – to her father’s body in St George’s Chapel, Windsor.
When the Queen was born, her parents wanted to name her Anne, but King George V forbade it, calling it ‘an unsuitable name’. In 1950 there was no such royal veto when she chose to call her own daughter Anne.
There is a secret station on the London Underground system below Buckingham Palace, so that the family can escape to Heathrow Airport in an emergency.
On 13 June 1981, Marcus Sarjeant, aged 17, fired six blank pistol shots at the Queen during the Trooping the Colour. Unfazed, she calmed her horse and carried on with the ceremony.
To prevent her secrets being revealed to snoopers the Queen always uses black blotting paper.
The Queen has a special car mascot – a silver model of St George and the Dragon – which is transferred to any royal car in which she is travelling.
The Queen is an excellent mimic and sometimes entertains the family by aping the prime ministers she has known in the last half century.
The Queen was taught to play the piano, sketch and paint by her mother (later the Queen Mother).
The Queen speaks fluent French and often uses the language for official audiences and State Visits. Her Majesty does not require an interpreter.
Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip first met in 1934 when they attended the wedding of Prince Philip’s cousin, Princess Marina of Greece, to the Duke of Kent, who was an uncle of Princess Elizabeth. However, they did not become acquainted until a royal family visit to the Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, where Philip was a cadet. On that occasion, her scheming uncle, Louis Mountbatten, arranged for Philip to be the escort to both Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret.
The Queen has ten residences available to her if necessary: Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle, St James’s Palace, Kensington Palace, Hampton Court Palace, Balmoral, Sandringham, Holyroodhouse, the Tower of London and the Palace of Westminster – which is still one of the monarch’s official residences.
The Queen’s Civil List income of £7.9 million a year has been a fixed annual payment since 1991. The Queen also has the income from the Duchy of Lancaster, which last year amounted to £12.2 million.
When George III reached a deal with the government in 1760 over the Crown Estate, the Civil List came to describe the money paid from public funds to meet the sovereign’s expenditure as Head of State. All existing Crown lands were to be managed on behalf of the government, and surplus revenue was to go to the Treasury.
The Queen entertains over 50,000 people every year, on average.
The royal residences and royal travel are funded by separate grants and are not covered by the Civil List.
The Crown is the second biggest landowner in Britain, with 182,313 acres in England and 85,290 acres in Scotland, plus Regent’s Park, Carlton House Terrace, chunks of Pall Mall, Piccadilly, Holborn and Kensington. The Crown also retains substantial holdings in the USA.
At the time of writing, the Queen’s staff number 298.
In 2010, Sir Alan Reid, the Queen’s Treasurer, warned government officials that the monarch’s expenditure was running at £7 million more than the annual allowance.
When addressing royalty, tradition has it that ‘Ma’am’ is pronounced so as to rhyme with ‘Pam’.
The royal barge, the Queen’s riverboat, is named the Royal Nore.
After meeting the Queen’s cousin, the Duke of Kent, jazz musician Louis Armstrong sent him a 21st birthday message in which he wrote: ‘To Black Jack, the sharpest little cat I know.’
When the Queen Mother was alive she was officially known as Queen Elizabeth. Her daughter was simply referred to as the Queen.
Each day of the Ascot racing season, the Queen hosts lunch at Windsor Castle then leads the royal procession to the track in her horse-drawn landau. She is so familiar with the course she can tell what the ‘going’ is like by the sound the landau’s wheels make on the turf.
The Queen has owned 28 winners at Ascot.
As a child she kept a collection of 30 toy ponies on the landing at 145 Piccadilly, London – then the home of her father, the Duke of York, before he became king.
King George V, her grandfather, gave the Queen her first pony when she was four years old. This was a Shetland pony called Peggy, on which she learned to ride. The Queen continues to ride at Sandringham, Balmoral and Windsor.
When required to ride a horse mounted, the Queen rode side-saddle to every ceremony on her trusted mount, Burmese, until he retired in 1986.
Today the Queen travels to these ceremonies in Queen Victoria’s phaeton.
Her first racehorse was a wedding gift from the Aga Khan. It was called Astrakhan.
The Queen reads the Sporting Post, the racing paper, every morning. She instructs that all horse races must be recorded on Sky+ and watches them at the end of the day.
Her racing manager and trainers are allowed to call her at any time on her private line.
The Queen also takes a keen interest in horse breeding. Horses bred at the royal studs over the last 200 years have won virtually every major race in Britain. The Queen has about 25 horses in training each season.
The Queen’s racing colours are: purple body with gold braid, scarlet sleeves and black velvet cap with gold fringe.
The Queen continues her family’s long association with racing pigeons, which began in 1886 when King Leopold II of Belgium made a gift of racing pigeons to the British Royal Family. In 1990, one of the Queen’s birds took part in the Pau race, coming first in the Section 5th Open and was subsequently named ‘Sandringham Lightning’. In recognition of her interest in the sport, the Queen is patron of a number of racing societies, including the Royal Pigeon Racing Association.
The wife of Daily Express journalist John Harrison, Penny, asked her husband to rush home from Canada, where he was covering a royal tour, when her baby was to be induced. But not a single flight out of Canada was available to get him back in time. When the Queen heard of his plight she commanded: ‘That won’t do at all. Let him fly home with me on the Royal Flight.’ Thanks to the Queen, Harrison was there when his son, Paul, was born. The Queen sent a message saying how delighted she was that he had made it in time. His payment? Never to write about the trip home. He never did.
Queen Elizabeth II is 5 feet 4 inches tall.
She is also known as the Duchess of Edinburgh.
The Queen’s middle names are Alexandra Mary. She was known to her grandmother, Queen Mary, as ‘The Bambino’.
The Queen has received over 3 million items of correspondence during her reign.
She insists on all her eggs being from free-range chickens.
The Queen prefers red meat – steaks and lamb chops. She is also fond of ‘hot’ curries.
In 1986 Elizabeth became the first British monarch to visit China.
Elizabeth’s real birthday is on 21 April, but it is celebrated officially in June, to avoid bad weather.
Her first public solo engagement was the launching of HMS Vanguard in September 1944.
Queen Mary passed on two tips to Elizabeth: ‘During public engagements one should sit down whenever possible, and avail oneself of toilet facilities whenever the opportunity arises.’
The Queen is the 40th monarch since William the Conqueror obtained the Crown of England.
Elizabeth gave birth to her fourth and final child, Prince Edward, the Earl of Wessex, on 10 March 1964.
She gave birth to her third child, and second son, Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, on 19 February 1960.
Her second child, and only daughter, Princess Anne, the Princess Royal, was born on 15 August 1950.
Elizabeth gave birth to her first child Charles, Prince of Wales, on 14 November 1948.
The Queen has visited the sets of many of Britain’s most popular TV soap opera shows, including Coronation Street in 1960, EastEnders in 1985, and Emmerdale Farm (now Emmerdale) in 1972.
The Queen dislikes travelling by helicopter.
She also dislikes pompous snobs and being bored, often finding the two dislikes are combined.
On 20 November 1997, the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh (Prince Philip) celebrated their Golden Wedding at Buckingham Palace.
The silk for the Queen’s wedding dress came from China, as Japanese silk was unacceptable so soon after the end of the Second World War.
Some 8,100 police were on duty for the Queen’s wedding in 1947.
After her wedding she said: ‘I ask nothing more than that Philip and I should be as happy as my father and mother have been, and Queen Mary and King George before them.’
Her Wedding Breakfast was eaten off gold plates with gold cutlery but the main course was only partridge as, in 1947, other meats were still rationed.
As a young girl, Elizabeth was educated at home along with her sister, Princess Margaret. They were the last royals not to receive a normal school education.
The Queen is a patron of Battersea Dogs and Cats Home.
Elizabeth has Honorary Doctorships of Law from the University of Edinburgh and the University of London. She was made an Honorary Doctor of Civil Law by the University of Oxford, and an Honorary Doctor of Music by the University of Wales.
In 1951 the Queen was made an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.
Satirical magazine Private Eye nicknamed the Queen ‘Brenda’.
Elizabeth is a Freeman of the cities of Belfast, London, Edinburgh and Cardiff.
She is the Patron of the NSPCC (National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children).
Forbes magazine has estimated the Queen’s fortune at around $500 million.
Elizabeth celebrated her Golden Jubilee in 2002 and there are major plans for her Diamond Jubilee in 2012.
In October 1957, she opened the first session of Canada’s 23rd Parliament.
When she joined the Girl Guides, the Queen asked her troop leader: ‘Can’t my sister join? You see, she does so love getting dirty.’
Although Elizabeth officially lives in Buckingham Palace, she, like many other British monarchs before her, dislikes the Palace and she considers her real home to be Windsor Castle, where she spends most weekends and Christmas.
Elizabeth was baptised on 29 May 1926, at Buckingham Palace.
She came to the throne in 1952 on the death of her father, King George VI, but her coronation as Queen was not until 2 June 1953, in Westminster Abbey, London.
At her coronation the Queen had the so-called ‘wedding ring of England’ placed on her finger by the Archbishop of Canterbury as part of the crowning ceremony.
On the morning of her coronation she felt too sick to eat her breakfast.
Elizabeth’s first official overseas visit was to South Africa, in 1949.
She appeared on the cover of TIME magazine, in 1929, at the age of three.
In 1942, under wartime legislation, which required all 16 year olds to register for war work or military service, the Queen signed on at the Labour Exchange.
The Queen was the first British monarch to circumnavigate the globe in one trip.
Elizabeth was the first (and, as of 2011, the only) female member of the Royal Family to serve in the armed forces – in the Auxiliary Territorial Service.
Elizabeth was the first British monarch since the Act of Union in 1801 to be outside the United Kingdom at the moment of succession (in Kenya).
During her annual summer holiday in Balmoral, the Queen has a Scottish pipe major in full regalia – kilt, sporran and bearskin – to play the bagpipes under her window every morning at breakfast time.
Her portrait is on the front of the Canadian $20 bill.
Quotes from the Queen:
‘I have to be seen to be believed.’
‘I declare before you all that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong.’
‘Grief is the price we pay for love.’
‘The British Constitution has always been puzzling and always will be.’
‘In remembering the appalling suffering of war on both sides, we recognise how precious is the peace we have built in Europe since 1945.’
‘You never know, it could be somebody important.’ (Advising an embarrassed young woman to answer her mobile phone which rang while they were in conversation.)
‘Manchester, that’s not such a nice place.’
‘I myself prefer my New Zealand eggs for breakfast.’ (After an egg-throwing demonstration.)
‘Like all the best families, we have our share of eccentricities, of impetuous and wayward youngsters and of family disagreements.’
Tony Blair was the first prime minister to have been born during the Queen’s reign. He was born in early May 1953 – a month before the coronation.
When her children were young, the Queen asked her prime ministers to come later for their twice-weekly meetings so she had time to read her youngsters bedtime stories.
She used a blackboard to teach her two youngest children to read and tell the time.
In 2002, the makers of commemorative memorabilia to celebrate the Queen’s Golden Jubilee made more than £200 million worth of products.
The Queen commissioned the Blue Peter TV programme to choose a winning design from children aged between six and 14 for the creation of her official Diamond Jubilee logo.
THE QUEEN AND SPACE
On 5 February 1954, the Queen received the first woman in space, Valentina Tereschkova, and almost exactly 15 years later, in 1969, met Colonel Frank Borman, who led the first team of American astronauts to circle the Moon.
In that year, a ‘micro-filmed’ message from the Queen was deposited by the Apollo 11 astronauts during the first landing on the Moon. The message read: ‘On behalf of the British people I salute the skill and courage which have brought man to the Moon. May this endeavour increase the knowledge and well-being of mankind.’
Her Majesty also sent a message of congratulations to the President of the United States of America: ‘I send my warmest congratulations to you, to the crew of Apollo 11, and to the American people on the historic occasion of man’s first landing on the Moon. I am filled with admiration for the fortitude of Astronauts Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins, whose exploits add a new dimension to man’s knowledge of the Universe. I offer my good wishes and prayers for their safe return.’ The President responded: ‘Your Majesty, on behalf of the people of the United States, and especially Astronauts Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins, I thank you for sharing your kind thoughts on the manned lunar landing. This flight has added a new dimension to human experience. Let us hope it will usher in an era of increasingly fruitful international understanding and cooperation. Sincerely, Richard Nixon.’
In October 1969 the crew of Apollo 11 visited London and were received at Buckingham Palace by the Queen and the Royal Family. The crew presented Her Majesty with a replica of the silicon disc that carried her message to them, which was left on the Moon.
From the National Space Centre in Leicester, in August 2002, Her Majesty spoke via video link with NASA, saying that over the Jubilee summer she had travelled widely but hoped that she would be ‘forgiven for having limited my tour to the Earth’s surface!’.
During a State Visit to the USA in May 2007, the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh visited NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and spoke directly via a live video link-up to astronauts orbiting the Earth. British astronaut, Michael Foale, gave the Queen a virtual guided tour of the flight centre.
In 2002, at the age of 76, the Queen was the oldest monarch to celebrate a Golden Jubilee. The youngest was James I (James VI of Scotland) when he was 51.
Since 1952, the Queen has conferred over 387,700 honours and awards.
The Queen has personally held over 540 investitures.
On one occasion, as the Queen debated having a second glass of wine with lunch, she was advised by the Queen Mother: ‘Don’t forget, my dear, you have to reign all afternoon.’
Over the course of her reign, around 1.1 million people have attended garden parties at either Buckingham Palace or the Palace of Holyroodhouse. (The Queen ended presentation parties in 1958.)
Over the reign, Her Majesty has given regular Tuesday evening audiences to 12 British prime ministers: Winston Churchill, 1951–55; Sir Anthony Eden, 1955–57; Harold Macmillan, 1957–63; Sir Alec Douglas-Home, 1963–64; Harold Wilson, 1964–70 and 1974–76; Edward Heath, 1970–74; James Callaghan, 1976–79; Margaret Thatcher, 1979–90; John Major, 1990–97; Tony Blair, 1997–2007; Gordon Brown, 2007–10; David Cameron, from 2010.
The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh introduced small, informal luncheon parties at Buckingham Palace to meet distinguished people from all professions, trades and vocations. The first lunch was held on 11 May 1956 and the tradition continues to this day. There are usually six to eight guests and two members of the household attending.
The Queen is patron of more than 620 charities and organisations.
When she is expecting guests, the Queen always personally inspects their rooms in advance.
During her reign, the Queen has undertaken over 256 official overseas visits to 129 different countries.
Many of the Queen’s official tours were undertaken on the Royal Yacht Britannia. It was launched by Her Majesty on 16 April 1953 and was commissioned for service on 7 January 1954. It was de-commissioned in December 1997. During this time, Britannia travelled more than a million miles on royal and official duties.
Britannia was first used by the Queen when she embarked with the Duke of Edinburgh on 1 May 1954 at Tobruk for the final stage of their Commonwealth Tour, returning to the Pool of London. The last time the Queen was on board Britannia for an official visit was on 9 August 1997, for a visit to Arran.
The Queen has visited Australia 16 times, Canada 23 times, Jamaica six times and New Zealand ten times. Her Majesty most recently visited Australia in October 2011.
Since her accession to the throne in 1952, Her Majesty has visited Edinburgh nearly every year, taking up residence in the Palace of Holyroodhouse during Holyrood Week.
During her reign, the Queen has received many unusual gifts, including a variety of live animals. The more unusual animals have been placed in the care of London Zoo – among them jaguars and sloths from Brazil, and two black beavers from Canada. The Queen has also received gifts of pineapples, eggs, a box of snail shells, a grove of maple trees and 7kg of prawns.
The Queen was second cousin to the late punk rock singer and actress Teresa d’Abreu.
The Queen has sent around 100,000 telegrams to centenarians in the UK and the Commonwealth.
The Queen has sent more than 280,000 telegrams to couples in the UK and the Commonwealth celebrating their diamond wedding (60 years) anniversary.
Australia celebrated its 200th birthday as a nation by buying the Queen a new state coach.
The Queen has attended 34 Royal Variety Performances.
The Queen’s favourite singers are Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand and Perry Como.
The Queen has opened 15 bridges in the United Kingdom during her reign.
The Queen has given over 91 state banquets during her reign.
Since 1952, the Queen has undertaken 80 State Visits accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh.
The Queen has launched 23 ships in her lifetime. The first ship that she launched as Queen was Her Majesty’s Yacht Britannia, from Clydebank.
The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh have sent about 38,000 Christmas cards during the Queen’s reign.
The Queen has given out about 80,000 Christmas puddings to staff, continuing the custom of King George V and King George VI. In addition, the Queen gives all her staff a gift at Christmas time.
Every year the Queen sends Christmas trees to Westminster Abbey, Wellington Barracks, St Paul’s Cathedral, St Giles in Edinburgh, the Canongate Kirk in Edinburgh, Crathie Church and local schools and churches in the Sandringham area.
The Queen was a Girl Guide (1937) and Sea Ranger (1943).
Princess Elizabeth travelled on the London Underground for the first time in May 1939 with her governess Marion Crawford and Princess Margaret.
The Queen is a keen photographer and enjoys taking photographs of her family. The Duke of York is also a keen photographer and has taken a number of photographs of the Queen, including an official photograph for Her Majesty’s Golden Jubilee in 2002.
The Queen was born at 17 Bruton Street, London W1, on 21 April 1926, was christened on 29 May 1926 in the private chapel at Buckingham Palace, and was confirmed on 28 March 1942 in the private chapel at Windsor Castle.
With the birth of Prince Andrew in 1960, the Queen became the first reigning Sovereign to have a child since Queen Victoria, who had her youngest child, Princess Beatrice, in 1857.
The Queen has 30 godchildren.
The first football match the Queen attended was the 1953 FA Cup Final, between Blackpool and Bolton Wanderers.
The Queen has taken the salute in every Trooping the Colour ceremony since the start of her reign, with the exception of 1955 when a national rail strike forced the cancellation of the parade.
The Queen has sat for over 140 official portraits during her lifetime, two of which were with the Duke of Edinburgh. The most recent sitting was for Rolf Harris (2005). Her Majesty was just seven years old when she sat for her first portrait in 1933, which was commissioned by her mother and painted by the Hungarian artist, Philip Alexius de László.
The Queen sat for the first and only hologram portrait in 2003.
There have been 11 sculptures of the Queen. The most recent was in 2005 by Angela Conner for St George’s Chapel, Windsor.
The first ‘royal walkabout’ took place during the visit by the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh to Australia and New Zealand in 1970. The practice was introduced to allow them to meet a greater number of people, not simply officials and dignitaries.
In 1969, the first television film about the family life of the Royal Family was made, and shown on the eve of the investiture of Prince Charles as Prince of Wales.
An important innovation during the Queen’s reign was the opening in 1962 of a new gallery at Buckingham Palace to display items from the Royal Collection. The brainchild of the Duke of Edinburgh, the new Queen’s Gallery occupied the space of the Palace’s bomb-damaged private chapel. It was the first time that parts of the Palace had been opened to the general public.
The only time the Queen has had to interrupt an overseas tour during her reign (she flew back from Kenya during a royal tour when her father, King George VI, died in 1952) was in 1974 during a tour of Australia and Indonesia. The Queen was called back from Australia when a general election was called suddenly. The Duke of Edinburgh continued the programme in Australia, and the Queen re-joined the tour in Indonesia.
The Queen has opened Parliament every year except 1959 and 1963, when she was expecting Prince Andrew and Prince Edward respectively.
The Queen went on her first State Visit, as Princess Elizabeth, to South Africa with her mother and father, then king and queen, from February to May 1947. The tour included Rhodesia and Bechuanaland, Swaziland and Basutoland (now Lesotho). The Princess celebrated her 21st birthday in Cape Town. Her Majesty’s first State Visit as Queen was technically to Kenya, as King George VI died and the Queen acceded the throne during the tour. The tour had to be abandoned.
The Queen has made a Christmas broadcast to the Commonwealth every year of her reign except 1969, when a repeat of the film Royal Family was shown and a written message from the Queen issued.
In 1953, the Queen made the first Christmas broadcast from overseas (rather than from the UK), broadcasting live from New Zealand. The first televised broadcast was in 1957, recorded live. The first pre-recorded broadcast took place in 1960 to allow transmission around the world.
The Queen sent her first email in 1976 from an army base.
There have been six Archbishops of Canterbury during the Queen’s reign (Geoffrey Fisher, Michael Ramsey, Donald Coggan, Robert Runcie, George Carey and Rowan Williams).
History was made in 1982 when Pope John Paul II visited Britain, the first pope to do so for 450 years. The Queen, Titular Head of the Church of England, received him at Buckingham Palace.
The Queen visited a mosque in the UK for the first time in July 2002 – in Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire.
The Queen has attended 54 Royal Maundy services during her reign at more than 39 different cathedrals. The Queen has missed only four services – two for official tours and two for the births of Prince Andrew and Prince Edward.
The Queen has owned more than 30 corgis during her reign, starting with Susan, a present for her 18th birthday in 1944. A good proportion of these have been direct descendants from Susan. One corgi, Crackers, even accompanied her on honeymoon. The Queen currently has five corgis: Emma, Linnet, Monty, Holly and Willow.
The Queen also introduced a new breed of dog known as the ‘dorgi’ when one of Her Majesty’s corgis was mated with a dachshund named Pipkin, which belonged to Princess Margaret. The Queen currently has four dorgis – Cider, Berry, Candy and Vulcan.
As well as corgis and dorgis, the Queen also breeds and trains labradors and cocker spaniels at Sandringham. There is a special Sandringham strain of black labrador founded in 1911.
The Queen feeds her dogs herself, even mixing individual dishes for each of them. An aide only takes over if she is away on an official engagement.
The engagement between Princess Elizabeth and Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten RN was announced on 9 July 1947.
Prince Philip was born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark. He joined the Royal Navy in 1939 and after the war, in February 1947, became a naturalised British subject. Philip was required to choose a surname in order to continue his career in the Royal Navy, and adopted Mountbatten, the name of his mother’s British relatives. He was created Duke of Edinburgh by King George VI on marriage.
Prince Philip had two stag parties the night before the wedding – the first at the Dorchester to which the press were invited, and the second with his closest friends at the Belfry Club.
The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh were married in Westminster Abbey on 20 November 1947 at 11.30am, with 2,000 invited guests.
This was the first, and so far the only, time in British history when the heir presumptive to the throne had been married.
The Queen was the tenth member of the Royal Family to be married in the Abbey. The first royal wedding to take place in the Abbey was when King Henry I married Princess Matilda of Scotland on 11 November in the year 1100. On 26 April 1923, the Queen’s parents, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth (then the Duke and Duchess of York) were married there.
The eight bridesmaids were: HRH the Princess Margaret, HRH Princess Alexandra of Kent, Lady Caroline Montagu-Douglas-Scott, Lady Mary Cambridge, Lady Elizabeth Lambart, The Hon Pamela Mountbatten, The Hon Margaret Elphinstone, and The Hon Diana Bowes-Lyon.
There were two pages: HRH Prince William of Gloucester (aged five) and HRH Prince Michael of Kent (also aged five).
Guests attending the wedding included the King and Queen of Denmark, the King and Queen of Yugoslavia, the Kings of Norway and Romania and the Shah of Iran.
The Queen’s wedding dress was designed by Sir Norman Hartnell and was woven in Dunfermline, using silk that had come from Chinese silkworms.
The Queen’s bridal veil was made of tulle and held by a tiara of diamonds. This tiara (which can also be worn as a necklace) was made for Queen Mary in 1919. It is made from re-used diamonds taken from a necklace/tiara purchased by Queen Victoria, and was a wedding present for Queen Mary in 1893. In August 1936, Queen Mary gave the tiara to Queen Elizabeth, from whom it was borrowed by Princess Elizabeth for her wedding in 1947.
After the wedding, the dress was exhibited at St James’s Palace and was then shown in the capital towns of the British Isles and in Glasgow, Liverpool, Bristol, Preston, Leicester, Nottingham, Manchester, Bradford, Leeds and Huddersfield.
The bride’s wedding bouquet was made of white orchids with a sprig of myrtle from the bush grown from the original myrtle in Queen Victoria’s wedding bouquet. An identical copy of the bouquet was made and presented to the Queen on her Golden Wedding in 1997.
The Grave of the Unknown Warrior was the only stone that was not covered by the special carpet in the Abbey. The day after the wedding, Princess Elizabeth followed a royal tradition, started by her mother, of sending her wedding bouquet back to the Abbey to be laid on this grave.
The bridesmaids wore wreaths of miniature white sheaves of lilies and London Pride in their hair, modelled in white satin and silver lamé. They were made by Jac Ltd of London. The pages wore Royal Stewart tartan kilts.
The bells of St Margaret’s Church, Westminster Abbey, hailed the arrival of the carriage procession. The Queen arrived at the Abbey with her father, George VI, in the Irish State Coach.
The two royal kneelers, used during the service, were covered in rose pink silk. They were made from orange boxes, due to wartime austerity, and date-stamped 1946.
The bride’s wedding ring was made from a nugget of Welsh gold which came from the Clogau St David’s mine near Dolgellau.
Trumpet fanfares were introduced for the first time at a royal wedding in the Abbey. A white flag was waved in the organ loft to signal the fanfare once the register had been signed.
The position of the BBC microphones had to be carefully checked, as at the 1934 royal wedding the Abbey cross had hit the microphone suspended above the altar steps. Radio commentators shared the organ loft with the choir.
The royal couple received over 2,500 wedding presents from well-wishers around the world. Most were put on display for a few days in a charity exhibition at St James’s Palace. From India, there was a piece of crocheted, cotton lace made from yarn personally spun by Mahatma Ghandi. The central motif reads ‘Jai Hind’ (Victory for India).
Other gifts from abroad included a gold and jade necklace given by King Farouk of Egypt, a writing desk from the government of New Zealand and pieces from a Chinese porcelain dinner service printed with characters denoting ‘double joy’, given by President Chiang Kai Shek of the Chinese Republic.
As well as jewellery from their close relatives, including the King and Queen, the couple received many useful items for the kitchen and home, including salt cellars from the Queen, a bookcase from Queen Mary, and a picnic case from Princess Margaret.
Other gifts, kindly made and given by members of the public, included a hand-knitted cardigan, two pairs of bed socks, and a hand-knitted tea cosy.
The Wedding Breakfast (lunch) was held after the marriage ceremony at Westminster Abbey in the ball supper-room at Buckingham Palace. The menu was Filet de Sole Mountbatten, Perdreau en Casserole, Bombe Glacée Princess Elizabeth.
With post-war food rationing still in place, the official wedding cake was made using ingredients given as wedding gifts from abroad.
The cake was 9 feet high in four tiers, with painted panels of the armorial bearings of both families, and included the monograms of bride and groom, sugar-iced figures to depict their favourite activities, and regimental and naval badges. The cake was cut using the Duke’s Mountbatten sword, which was a wedding present from the King.
The bride and bridegroom left the Palace showered with rose petals. They spent their wedding night at Broadlands in Hampshire, home of Prince Philip’s uncle, Earl Mountbatten. The second part of the honeymoon was spent at Birkhall on the Balmoral estate.
Early in 1948 the couple leased their first marital home, Windlesham Moor in Surrey, near Windsor Castle, where they stayed until they moved to Clarence House on 4 July 1949.
After marrying Princess Elizabeth, the Duke of Edinburgh continued his naval career, reaching the rank of Lieutenant-Commander in command of the frigate HMS Magpie.
Although he was the Queen’s husband, the Duke of Edinburgh was not crowned or anointed at the coronation ceremony in 1953. He was the first subject to pay homage to Her Majesty, and kiss the newly crowned Queen, stating: ‘I, Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, do become your liege man of life and limb, and of earthly worship; and faith and truth I will bear unto you, to live and die, against all manner of folks. So help me God.’
Prince Philip has accompanied the Queen on all her Commonwealth Tours and State Visits, as well as on public engagements in all parts of the UK. The first of these was the coronation tour of the Commonwealth from November 1953 to May 1954, when the couple visited Bermuda, Jamaica, Panama, Fiji, Tonga, New Zealand, Australia, Cocos Islands, Ceylon, Aden, Uganda, Libya, Malta and Gibraltar – travelling a distance of 43,618 miles.
The Duke of Edinburgh is one of only a few consorts to reigning female queens in British history. William III was co-Sovereign with Mary II, although she, as daughter of James II, was nearer the throne than him. The husband of Queen Anne was not given the title of king but remained Prince George of Denmark. Prince Albert was created Prince Consort by Queen Victoria in 1857.
The Queen’s dressmakers over the years have included Sir Hardy Amies, Sir Norman Hartnell, Karl-Ludwig Couture and Maureen Rose. The Queen’s milliners have been Frederick Fox, Philip Somerville and Marie O’Regan.
The Queen has laid her wreath at the Cenotaph on Remembrance Sunday every year of her reign, except in 1959, 1961, 1963, 1968, 1983 and 1999, when she was either pregnant or overseas on an official visit.
In 1997, the Queen launched Buckingham Palace’s first official website.
In June 2002, the Queen hosted the first public concerts in the garden of Buckingham Palace to celebrate her Golden Jubilee. The Queen attended both the classical and pop concerts. The ‘Party at the Palace’ pop concert was one of the most-watched pop concerts in history, attracting around 200 million viewers all over the world.
The Queen is the first member of the Royal Family to be awarded a gold disc from the recording industry. One hundred thousand copies of the CD of the ‘Party at the Palace’ concert, produced by EMI, were sold within the first week of release.
The Queen hosted the first women-only event, ‘Women of Achievement’, at Buckingham Palace in March 2004.
In November 2004, the Queen invited the cast of Les Misérables to perform for French President Jacques Chirac at Windsor Castle. It was the first time the cast of a West End musical had performed at a royal residence.
As a young girl, the Queen acted in a number of pantomimes during the Second World War, including playing the part of Prince Florizel in Cinderella in 1941. These pantomimes took place every year in the Waterloo Chamber at Windsor Castle.
In 2005, the Queen claimed ownership of 88 cygnets on the River Thames. They are looked after by the Swan Marker. The first Royal Swan Keeper was appointed around the 12th century.
Technically the Queen still owns the sturgeons, whales and dolphins in the waters around the UK. A statute from 1324, at the time of the reign of King Edward II, states that: ‘Also the king shall have… whales and sturgeons taken in the sea or elsewhere within the realm.’ This statute is still valid today, and sturgeons, porpoises, whales and dolphins are recognised as ‘Fishes Royal’. When captured within three miles of UK shores, or washed ashore either dead or alive, they may be claimed on behalf of the Crown. Generally, when brought into port, a sturgeon is sold in the usual way, and the purchaser, as a gesture of loyalty, requests the honour of its being accepted by the Queen.
In summer 2005, the Queen opened the first ‘children’s trail’ in the Buckingham Palace garden for the Summer Opening.
In 2010, Colonel Russell Williams – a Canadian Air Force commander who once flew the Queen’s plane during a royal tour – admitted that he murdered two young women and sexually assaulted two others, and confessed to over 80 other crimes. He was jailed for life.
Elizabeth II habitually attends the church at Sandringham at Christmas. An equerry sits in the pew behind her, and when the collection plate comes round, he passes forward to the Queen a crisp, new £10 note, which the Queen puts onto the plate.
The Queen’s wedding to Philip Mountbatten in 1947 was used as the blueprint for the 2011 marriage between Prince William and Kate Middleton.
There are four sources of funding of the Queen, and those working in support of the Queen as Head of State. These are: the Civil List, to meet official expenditure relating to the Queen’s duties as Head of State and Head of the Commonwealth; the Grant-in-Aid for the upkeep of occupied royal palaces; the Grant-in-Aid for royal travel, for air and rail journeys associated with official engagements; and the Privy Purse for the Queen’s public and personal use.
Head of State expenditure is the official expenditure relating to the Queen’s duties as Head of the Commonwealth.
Head of State expenditure is met from public funds, in exchange for the surrender of revenue from the Crown Estate. This revenue amounted to £211 million in the financial year to 31 March 2008, vastly more than the Queen and her family cost the country.
The Queen does not receive any money from the Crown Estate. The annual revenue surplus from the Crown Estate is received by the Treasury.
Head of State expenditure does not include the cost of security, which is the responsibility of the Home Office and the police.
Only the Duke of Edinburgh receives funding from the Civil List. This amounts to £359,000 per annum.
Parliamentary annuities for the Duke of York (£249,000 per annum), the Earl of Wessex (£141,000), the Princess Royal (£228,000), the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester (£175,000), the Duke and Duchess of Kent (£236,000) and Princess Alexandra (£225,000) are repaid by the Queen from her private funds. These repaid parliamentary annuities are spent on office costs.
The Queen has always been subject to Value Added Tax (VAT) and other indirect taxes and rates on a voluntary basis.
In 1992, the Queen offered to pay capital gains tax on a voluntary basis.
As from 1993, the Queen’s personal income has been taxable, as for any taxpayer, and the Privy Purse is fully taxable.
The inhabitants of the occupied royal palaces and private royal residences are subject to Council Tax, as set by the relevant local council.
Although the Queen’s estate will be subject to inheritance tax, bequests from Sovereign to Sovereign are exempt. This is because the Sovereign is unable to generate significant new wealth through earnings or business activities, and to recognise the requirement for the monarchy to have a degree of financial independence.
The Queen does not own the royal palaces, works of art from the Royal Collection or the Crown Jewels. These are held by Her Majesty as Sovereign and must be passed to her successor in due course.
In March 2010, Elizabeth II unveiled a statue of Elizabeth I to celebrate the 450th anniversary of the granting of Westminster Abbey’s Royal Charter.
Every year the Royal Household publishes an annual summary of Head of State expenditure, together with a full report on royal public finances. Both reports are part of the household’s continuing commitment to the highest standards of disclosure and to making royal finances as transparent as possible.
The 1976 Companies Act specifically excludes the Queen from having to disclose share holdings, as everyone else must do. Her private fortune, however, has been estimated by the royal financial observer, Professor Phillip Hall, at £400 million.
