Queen Elizabeth is perhaps one of the most recognizable figures in the world, but do
you know who she is as an individual? She has been on the throne for decades and has
seen Great Britain through years of war, scandals, and prime ministers. Here's what you don't
know about her.
Not a lot of people can say that they knew their spouse for most of their life, but Queen
Elizabeth can. Elizabeth met her late husband, Prince Philip, in 1934 when she was just 8
years old. They met at the wedding of Princess Marina of Greece, and the seed of their love
was planted.
Their paths crossed again when Elizabeth was 13 and Philip was 18, when the royal family
was visiting the Royal Naval College. Philip was training as a cadet, and apparently, there
were instant sparks between them. Margaret Rhodes, Elizabeth's cousin, said, as noted
by Vanity Fair,
"She never looked at anyone else."
They remained married for over 70 years.
Queen Elizabeth has addressed Great Britain countless times, but she was called to speak
to the country for the first time as a young teen. As noted by the National World War II
Museum, Elizabeth, like many children in London, was sent away from the city during the war,
adding distance between the children and the heavy bombing the city was experiencing. She
and her sister, Princess Margaret, retreated to Windsor Castle, and it was in the castle's
drawing room where she addressed the nation for the first time during the BBC's Children's
Hour.
"Thousands of you in this country have had to leave your homes and be separated from
your fathers and mothers. My sister Margaret Rose and I feel so much for you, as we know
from experience what it means to be away from those you love most of all. To you living
in new surroundings, we send a message of true sympathy."
As noted by History.com, Elizabeth pleaded with her father to let her contribute to the
war effort, so when she was 18 years old, she joined the Women's Auxiliary Territorial
Service. Her official title within the WATS was Second Subaltern Elizabeth Windsor, and
she began her training in London. The queen, during war time, became a military truck driver
and a mechanic.
To this day, Queen Elizabeth is the only female member within the British royal family to
have served in the military, and she remains the only surviving head of state in the world
who served during the second world war. Elizabeth continued to conform to the scarcity and demand
of wartime even after her service came to an end, and she used ration coupons to purchase
the material needed for her wedding gown, as austerity measures were still in place
in 1947.
Queen Elizabeth has had standing appointments with the United Kingdom's prime minister throughout
her reign, but one made a lasting impression. As noted by "British Heritage Travel," the
queen has met with 15 prime ministers, but it was Winston Churchill who truly impacted
her. The meetings between Elizabeth and Churchill often lasted as long as two hours, with conversations
ranging from their personal lives to political concerns. According to politician Roy Jenkins,
Churchill had a "near idolatry" for the queen and for the royal family as a whole.
When Churchill retired in 1955, Queen Elizabeth sent him a handwritten letter, expressing
to him that never would another prime minister, quote, "be able to hold the place of my first
prime minister, to whom both my husband and I owe so much." When Queen Elizabeth attended
Churchill's funeral in 1965, she went against standard procedure and marked her attendance
before his family arrived.
Queen Elizabeth may not be a political figure, but she has immense influence on the world
stage, so it makes sense that she has met U.S. presidents. As noted by CNN, 12 presidents
have been elected since Elizabeth ascended the throne — she has met all but two of
them, Lyndon B. Johnson and current U.S. president Joe Biden, whom she is hosting in the summer
of 2021.
"Visits by American presidents always remind us of the close and long-standing friendship
between the United Kingdom and the United States."
Former U.S. president Bill Clinton said of her,
"She's a highly intelligent woman who knows a lot about the world. I always marvel when
we meet at what a keen judge she is of human events. I think she's a very impressive person."
His sentiments were seconded by Barack Obama, who was very clear with his thoughts on the
monarch.
"There's one last thing that I should mention that I love about Great Britain, and that
is the Queen."
Life as a royal looks a lot like crowns and castles, so it's a wonder how much Queen Elizabeth
is worth. As noted by the Independent, the public pay just shy of $50 million a year
to support the queen, and about $500,000 of that once went directly to Prince Philip.
The British royal family is the most expensive royal institution in Europe, and the queen
herself is reportedly worth about $412 million.
But as you may have figured, the queen's personal wealth only accounts for a fraction of the
wealth of the royal family. As noted by Forbes, the crown is worth about $28 billion, and
a lot of that wealth comes from assets and real estate. The Crown Estate is worth $19.5
billion, the Duchy of Cornwall is worth $1.3 billion, Kensington Palace is worth $630 million,
the Crown Estate in Scotland is worth $592 million, and of course, Buckingham Palace
is worth $4.9 billion. Forbes also noted that the queen likely has an additional $500 million
in personal assets.
Here's something that is very interesting — the queen doesn't hold a passport or a
driver's license, and yes, there is reasoning behind both. As noted by History.com, Queen
Elizabeth has traveled to more than 115 countries as the United Kingdom's reigning monarch,
and no, she doesn't have a passport full of stamps. Every passport in Great Britain is
issued in Queen Elizabeth's name, so naturally, she doesn't really need one herself. Similarly,
she doesn't need a driver's license, and that hasn't stopped her from getting behind the
driver's wheel and taking her Jaguar or Range Rover for a spin.
Queen Elizabeth has a number of enduring pet names given to her by her family. As noted
by Harper's Bazaar, one of the queen's oldest nicknames is "Lilibet." She reportedly couldn't
pronounce her name when she was little, so her father, King George VI, used her own slip-up
and turned it into an enduring nickname. It has also been heard through the grapevine
that Prince Philip called Elizabeth "Cabbage," although we're not entirely sure why.
Of course, the queen has picked up a number of nicknames as she has occupied the role
of grandmother and great-grandmother. As noted by the Daily Mail, Prince William used to
call his grandmother "Gary." Apparently, William fell over while in Buckingham Palace as a
young child and called out for "Gary." A guest didn't know who he was talking about, but
the queen simply said, "I'm Gary. He hasn't learned to say Granny yet."
William's own child Prince George calls the queen "Gan Gan," adding to her long list of
nicknames.
Where there's the queen, there's typically a corgi, and that is not by accident. As noted
by The Washington Post, Queen Elizabeth has owned 30 corgis in her lifetime, having loved
the dog breed since she was little. In fact, the queen bred corgis for a number of years
and had a royal line of the breed. When her last royal corgi, Willow, passed away, it
was a huge blow. An insider at Buckingham Palace told the Daily Mail,
"She has mourned every one of her corgis over the years, but she has been more upset about
Willow's death than any of them."
Willow was far more than a dog, but was "a significant thread" that tied the queen all
the way back to her years as a teenager with her parents. The source added,
"It really does feel like the end of an era. For many, many years she bred and raised corgis
and to think that the last one has now gone is something of a milestone."
As noted by Harper's Bazaar, the queen is fluent in French, having picked up the language
as a child due to her French and Belgian governesse. When she made a speech at France's 2014 State
Banquet and read her speech in both English and French, she surprised a number of people
with her abilities.
[Speaking French]
Having the ability to speak fluent French seems like a useful skill for the traveling
monarch. The Royal website says,
"She often has cause to use it when speaking to ambassadors and heads of state from French-speaking
countries, and when visiting French-speaking areas of Canada."
It would not be surprising if the queen knew a few German phrases too, since her husband
was fluent in the language.
This is maybe the most random detail about Queen Elizabeth, but she owns all the whales,
dolphins, sturgeons, and swans that swim in British waters. As noted by Reader's Digest,
the swan is a symbol of Britain's monarchy, and, as such, the queen owns all swans that
swim on, quote, "certain stretches of the Thames [River] and its surrounding tributaries."
Now moving on to dolphins because, yes, it does sound weird that the queen of England
owns all the dolphins that swim in U.K. waters. As noted by Time, a statute dating all the
way back to 1324 states that the ruler of England, quote, "shall have ... whales and
sturgeons taken in the sea or elsewhere within the realm." All these years later, the statute
is still in place, so all porpoises, dolphins, whales, and sturgeons under the queen's ownership
are known as "fishes royal." If any one of the mammals is captured within three miles
of Great Britain, or if one washes up to shore, it can be claimed on the queen's behalf.
If you know anything about the Brits, then you know that a good cup of English tea is
a staple in every home. There's tea in the morning, tea in the afternoon, tea when it's
hot, cold, raining, sunny, you name it. And while it's safe to assume that Queen Elizabeth
partakes in the grand tradition of English tea drinking, she has a staple cocktail regiment
every day that she does not waver on.
The queen's cousin, Margaret Rhodes, once revealed the monarch's go-to cocktails. As
noted by the Independent, Elizabeth has a gin and Dubonnet drink, accompanied with lemon
and ice, before lunch. With lunch, she'll have a dry Martini, and then she finishes
off the evening with a glass of champagne. By the United Kingdom's government standards,
the queen might qualify as a "binge drinker," given that she has six alcoholic units per
day, but it doesn't seem like she'll waver from tradition any time soon.
There are some very odd traditions within the royal institution, and with those traditions
comes the servants who fulfill certain roles. For instance, there is Her Majesty's Botanist
and an Astronomer Royal. There's the Keeper of the Queen's Stamps, literally someone overseeing
the queen's stamp collection and a Royal Shoe Wearer. That's someone on the Queen Elizabeth's
staff wears her shoes so that she doesn't have to go through the uncomfortable break-in
period herself. But of all the jobs that are close to the queen, the oddest might be the
Piper to the Sovereign.
As noted by Business Insider, the role was invented in 1843 by Queen Victoria, and every
morning at 9 a.m., a piper plays the bagpipes under the queen's window for 15 minutes. So
there's really no need for the queen to ever set an alarm clock, because the piper will
play every weekday morning like clockwork, ushering the new day in with the sounds of
the bagpipes.
"What is that?"
"I think it might be the dying cat parade."
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