Ninety years old and still holding down the most senior job in the country. We are talking about Elizabeth, obviously. On 21 April she will turn 90 and the UK prepares to enjoy two months of events. After celebrating her 60 years on the throne in June 2012 with the Diamond Jubilee, she became the longest-reigning monarch in British history.
Fashion
She is probably the most recognizable person on earth thanks to her outfits and to her unique, yet arguable style. She has a huge collection of jewellery including the largest pink diamond in the world. However, she also buys cheap accessories like her see-through umbrellas that cost £16 each.
Her hats and colourful clothes are famous all around the world, but during post-war austerity, she used to collect clothing coupons for her wedding dress.
The Queen in one of her colourful outfits
Pets & animals
The Queen has owned more than 30 corgis during her reign. When she was four, she was given her first horse and since then her love for these animals never changed.
She owns not only all the swans in the UK, but she also owns all the dolphins, the whales and the sturgeons that live within three miles of the UK shores. She also has received lots of animals as gifts during her reign including a sloth, a jaguar and a black beaver, all housed at London Zoo.
Curiosities
Elizabeth II is the only person in the UK who doesn’t legally need a driving licence, a number plate on her cars or a passport.
Food
Buckingham Palace has a brigade of 20 chefs and Earl Grey is the tea of preference. According to chefs who worked for the Queen, she likes scrambled eggs, smoked salmon and a grating of (Italian?) truffle.
Hobbies
An avid reader, she loves crime thrillers by PD James, Dick Francis and Agatha Christie. As said earlier, she loves horse riding, but she also enjoys playing board games, jigsaws and scrabble.
The Queen in numbers
- 2868: the number of diamonds in the Imperial State Crown that Her Majesty wears at the State Opening of Parliament
- 25: the age the Queen came to the throne in 1952
- 23: the number of ships she has launched as queen
- 175,000: telegrams have been sent by those celebraiting their 100th birthday in the UK and the Commonwealth
- 130: the number of times the Queen has been officially portrayed
- 23: the number of different waxworks of the Queen that have been displayed at Madame Tussauds
- 9: the number of thrones she has (one at the House of Lords, two in Westminster Abbey and six in Buckingham Palace’s Throne Room).
-
The Imperial State Crown
