11 Things You Didn’t Know About The Queen

Perhaps one of the most notorious world leaders of the 20th and 21st century, Queen Elizabeth. We all know that she is the longest-reigning monarch that Great Britain has ever had, but what don’t we know about her?

This article will give you an extensive view of 25 things you didn’t know about Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain.

Table of Contents

She never went to school

The remarkable thing is that the Queen of Great Britain never went to school. This, of course, doesn’t mean she is uneducated. On the contrary, she had private tutoring of the course of her youth to teach her.

She was related to Prince Philip

Prince Philip, the man she was married to for 73 years, was actually related to her. They were third cousins. On her father’s side, Elizabeth is connected to Queen Victoria, and on his mother’s side, Philip was related to Queen Victoria.

81% of the British weren’t alive when she ascended the throne

Queen Elizabeth has been the monarch of Britain for such a long time that four out of five British subjects weren’t even alive the moment she ascended the throne in 1952.

Queen Elizabeth owns all of the swans in the kingdom

According to this article in MyLondon, the Queen owns all of the swans in Great Britain.

In the 12th Century, the British Crown claimed all swans because they were considered a royal meal back then. Of course, now the Queen doesn’t eat them, but she technically still owns all of them.

And every year, the Swan Marker counts all of the birds and checks if they are still healthy and living well.

The Queen is clearly not one of the richest people in the country

Forbes set the Queen’s estimated net worth around $500 million, and this is not even close to the richest person in the UK. Leonard Blavatnik is the richest person in the UK, with an estimated net worth of 23 billion pounds.

Queen Elizabeth gets her income from taxes and also from real estate that the Royal Family owns.

She uses her purse to send secret signals to her staff

It was suggested by The Telegraph that the Queen uses her purse to send secret signals to her staff members.

For example, to quit meetings. In this article, it was said that when she puts her purse on the table, she wants the event to be ending in five minutes, and if she places her purse on the ground, she wants to be saved from a conversation.

The Queen loves a drink

Who doesn’t love a drink here and there? Well, the Queen certainly does. Based on her cousin Margaret Rhodes’s info, the Queen likes Gin before lunch, a wine with her meal, and every night before bed, she enjoys herself a glass of champagne.

Queen Elizabeth can’t be prosecuted in court

In most monarchies, this is the case, and the Queen can’t be prosecuted for anything because she is The Sovereign. I don’t think that she will abuse this perk as a Queen, as stated on the website of the Royal Ramily:

“Although civil and criminal proceedings cannot be taken against the Sovereign […] the Queen is careful to ensure that all her activities in her personal capacity are carried out in strict accordance with the law.”

The Queen doesn’t own a passport or a drivers’ license

Because every passport in the UK is issued in the Queen’s name, she, herself, doesn’t need one when traveling or driving a car. On the website of the Royal Family, they state:

“As a British passport is issued in the name of Her Majesty, it is unnecessary for The Queen to possess one. All other members of the Royal Family, including The Duke of Edinburgh and The Prince of Wales, have passports.”

The Queen wears neon-colored outfits all the time

When the queen is standing on the platform at Buckingham Palace, she often wears very shiny and bright neon-colored clothes, and this is because, of course, she has to be able to see from far away as well.

The Queen pays taxes, even though she doesn’t have to

This might be unexpected. The Queen of Britain pays taxes. British Law states us that the sovereign doesn’t have to pay any income or property taxes, but the Queen does this voluntarily.

Originally Published on Medium by me (Bryan Dijkhuizen)

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