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2. She was the first child of The Duke and Duchess of York, who later
became King George VI and Queen Elizabeth.
3. It was not expected that her father would become King, or that she
would become Queen.
4. The Princess was christened Elizabeth Alexandra Mary in the private
chapel at Buckingham Palace. She was named after her mother, while her two
middle names are those of her paternal great-grandmother, Queen Alexandra, and
paternal grandmother, Queen Mary.
5. The Princess's early years were spent at 145 Piccadilly and at White
Lodge in Richmond Park.
6. When she was six years old, her parents took over Royal Lodge in
Windsor Great Park as their own country home.
7. Princess Elizabeth was educated at home with Princess Margaret, her
younger sister.
8. She received tuition from her father, as well as sessions with Henry
Marten, the Vice-Provost of Eton. She was also instructed in religion by the
Archbishop of Canterbury.
9. Princess Elizabeth also learned French from a number of French and
Belgian governesses.
10. Princess Elizabeth enrolled as a Girl Guide when she was eleven, and
later became a Sea Ranger.
11. In 1940, at the height of the Blitz, the young Princesses were moved
for their safety to Windsor Castle, where they spent most of the war years.
12. The Queen is the first British monarch to have celebrated a Diamond
Wedding Anniversary.
13.Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip first met 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, in 1934.
14.The engagement between Princess Elizabeth and Lieutenant Philip
Mountbatten RN was announced on the 9th July, 1947. Prince Philip was born
Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark. He was created "Duke of
Edinburgh" by King George VI on marriage.
15.The platinum and diamond engagement ring was made by the jewellers,
Philip Antrobus Ltd, using diamonds from a tiara belonging to Prince Philip's
mother.
16. Prince Philip had two stag parties the night before the wedding.
17. The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh were married in Westminster
Abbey on the 20th November, 1947 at 11.30am with 2000 invited guests.
18. 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, The Hon. Diana Bowes-Lyon.
19.There were two pages: HRH Prince William of Gloucester and HRH Prince
Michael of Kent.
20.The Queen's wedding dress was designed by Sir Norman Hartnell.
21.The fabric for the dress was woven at Winterthur Silks Limited,
Dunfermline, in the Canmore factory, using silk that had come from Chinese
silkworms.
22..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 from Collingwood and Co. and a wedding present for
Queen Mary in 1893.
23. 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.
24. The bride's wedding ring was made from a nugget of Welsh gold which
came from the Clogau St David's mine near Dolgellau.
25. Around 10,000 telegrams of congratulations were received at
Buckingham Palace and the Royal couple received over 2,500 wedding presents
from well-wishers around the world.
26. 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.
27. 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
Glacee Princess Elizabeth.
28. The couple departed Waterloo station with the Princess's corgi,
Susan, for their honeymoon.
29. The newlyweds spent their wedding night at Broadlands in Hampshire,
home of Prince Philip's uncle Earl Mountbatten. The second part of the
honeymoon was spent on the Balmoral Estate.
30. 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 July 1949.
31. 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.
32. 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 by
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."
33. 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.
34. The Coronation took place in Westminster Abbey on 2 June 1953. It
was a solemn ceremony conducted by Dr Geoffrey Fisher, Archbishop of
Canterbury.
35. The Coronation was followed by drives through every part of London,
a review of the fleet at Spithead, and visits to Scotland, Northern Ireland and
Wales.
36. The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh have four children: Prince
Charles, The Prince of Wales (b. 1948), Princess Anne, The Princess Royal (b.
1950), Prince Andrew, The Duke of York (b. 1960), and Prince Edward, The Earl
of Wessex (b. 1964).
37. With the birth of Prince Andrew in 1960, The Queen became the first
reigning Sovereign to give birth to a child since Queen Victoria, whose
youngest child, Princess Beatrice, was born in 1857.
38. The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh have eight grandchildren - Peter
Phillips (b. 1977), Zara Phillips (b. 1981) Prince William (b. 1982), Prince
Harry (b. 1984), Princess Beatrice (b. 1988), Princess Eugenie (b. 1990), Lady
Louise Windsor (b. 2003) and James, Viscount Severns (b. 2007) She has one
great-grandchild Savannah (b. 2011)
39. The Queen has delivered a Christmas message every year except in
1969, when she decided the royals had been on TV enough after an unprecedented
family documentary. Her greeting took the form of a written address.
40. In her 1991 message, the Queen silenced rumours of abdication as she
pledged to continue to serve.
41. The Queen issued a writ against The Sun newspaper after it published
the full text of her 1992 broadcast two days before transmission. She later
accepted an apology and a £200,000 donation to charity.
42. The Queen's grandfather, King George V, delivered the first royal
Christmas broadcast live on the radio from Sandringham in 1932.
43. George V was at first unsure about using the relatively untried
medium of the wireless, but eventually agreed.
44. There was no Christmas broadcast in 1936 or 1938, and it was the
outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 that firmly established the tradition.
45. Last year the Queen delivered her address from Hampton Court Palace
- the first time the historic building had been used.
46 The speech is written by the Queen and each has a strong religious
framework, reflects current issues and often draws on her own experiences.
48. An animal lover since childhood, The Queen takes a keen and highly
knowledgeable interest in horses.
49. She attends the Derby at Epsom, one of the classic flat races in
Britain, and the Summer Race Meeting at Ascot, which has been a Royal occasion
since 1911.
50. The Queen's horses won races at Royal Ascot on a number of
occasions.
51. Other interests include walking in the countryside and working her
Labradors, which were bred at Sandringham.
52. A lesser known interest is Scottish country dancing. Each year
during her stay at Balmoral Castle, The Queen gives dances known as Gillies'
Balls, for neighbours, estate and Castle staff and members of the local
community.
53. The Queen is the only person in Britain who can drive without a
licence or a registration number on her Range Rover, which she deeply loves. And she doesn't have a passport.
54. The Queen is patron to more than 600 charities
55. To formally greet the Queen men should perform a neck bow (from the
head only) whilst women do a small curtsy. On presentation to The Queen, the
correct formal address is 'Your Majesty' and subsequently 'Ma'am'.
56. Norman Hartnell, who first worked for the then Princess Elizabeth in
the 1940s, produced many of the finest evening dresses in Her Majesty’s wardrobe.
57. Hardy Amies began designing clothes for The Queen in the early 1950s
and established his name with the deceptive simplicity of his accomplished
tailoring.
58. In the 1970s The Queen awarded her patronage to Ian Thomas, who was
an assistant designer to Norman Hartnell before setting up his own salon.
Maureen Rose of the same house continued to design for Her Majesty after Ian’s
death until the late 80’s.
59. Between 1988 and 1996, Her Majesty’s dresses were designed by John
Anderson. His business partner Karl Ludwig Rehse took over the mantle after his
death in 1988 and the Queen still wears his designs today.
60. Stewart Parvin, the youngest of Her Majesty’s designers, trained at
Edinburgh College of Art. He began to design for The Queen in 2000 and
continues to do so.
61. Angela Kelly is Personal Assistant and Senior Dresser to The Queen.
Her role includes designing for The Queen, which she has done since 2002.
Angela and her team try and use both old and new fabrics when designing. Some
of the material they incorporate has been given to Her Majesty many years ago,
some dates from when she was Princess Elizabeth.
62. The Queen celebrates two birthdays each year: her actual birthday on
21 April and her official birthday on a Saturday in June.
63. The Queen usually spends her actual birthday privately, but the
occasion is marked publicly by gun salutes in central London at midday.
64. In 2006, Her Majesty celebrated her 80th Birthday in 2006 with a
walkabout in the streets outside of Windsor Castle to meet well-wishers.
65. On her official birthday, Her Majesty is joined by other members of
the Royal Family at the spectacular Trooping the Colour parade which moves
between Buckingham Palace, The Mall and Horseguards’ Parade.
66. Queen Elizabeth II is the fortieth monarch since William the
Conqueror.
67. She has visited Australia 15 times, Canada 23 times, Jamaica six
times and New Zealand ten times.
68. She has sent around 100,000 telegrams to centenarians in the UK and
the Commonwealth.
69. The Queen has launched 23 ships and met five astronauts at
Buckingham Palace.
70. She first flew in an aeroplane in July 1945.
71. She is the only British monarch in history properly trained to
change a spark plug.
72. On Victory in Europe Day she and her sister slipped into the crowd
to celebrate.
73. She collected clothing coupons for her wedding dress.
74. The Queen has a bank account at Coutts & Co.
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76. Tony Blair was the first prime minister to be born during her reign,
which has already seen nine prime ministers.
77. The Queen has sat through 91 state banquets and posed for 139
official portraits.
78. Technically The Queen still owns the sturgeons, whales and dolphins
in the waters around the UK which are recognised as 'Fishes Royal'.
79. The Queen introduced a new breed of dog known as the
"dorgi", when one of the corgis mated with a dachshund named Pipkin.
80. The Queen is the first British monarch to see three of her children
divorce.
81. She demoted a footman for feeding her corgis whisky.
82. The Queen has nine Royal thrones - One at the House of Lords, two at
Westminster Abbey, and six in the throne room at Buckingham Palace.
83. She is a Patron of the Royal Pigeon Racing Association.
84. There have been six Archbishops of Canterbury during the Queen's
reign
85. The Queen is 5ft 4 inches or 160cm tall.
Sources: The British Monarchy official website & The Telegraph
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