To Lesley and Barbara for their support and love
THE USELESS INFORMATION SOCIETY IRREVERENTLY PRESENTS THE
KINGS AND QUEENS OF ENGLAND
Egbert 802–839
Æthelwulf 839–858
Æthelbald 858–860
Æthelbert 860–866
Æthelred 866–871
Alfred 871–899
Edward the Elder 899–925
Æthelstan 925–940
Edmund I 940–946
Eadred 946–955
Edwy 955–959
Edgar 959–975
Edward the Martyr 975–978
Æthelred II the Unready 978–1013
Sweyn 1013–1014
Æthelred II the Unready 1014–1016
Edmund II 1016–1016
Cnut (Canute) 1016–1035
Harold I 1035–1040
Harthacnut 1040–1042
Edward the Confessor 1042–1066
Harold II 1066–1066
William I (the Conqueror) 1066–1087
William II 1087–1100
Henry I 1100–1135
Stephen 1135–1154
Henry II 1154–1189
Richard I (the Lionheart) 1189–1199
John 1199–1216
Henry III 1216–1272
Edward I 1272–1307
Edward II 1307–1327
Edward III 1327–1377
Richard II 1377–1399
Henry IV 1399–1413
Henry V 1413–1422
Henry VI 1422–1461
Edward IV 1461–1470
Henry VI 1470–1471
Edward IV 1471–1483
Edward V 1483–1483
Richard III 1483–1485
Henry VII 1485–1509
Henry VIII 1509–1547
Edward VI 1547–1553
Jane 1553–1553
Mary I 1553–1558
Elizabeth I 1558–1603
James I 1603–1625
Charles I 1625–1649
Oliver Cromwell – Lord Protector 1649–1658
Charles II 1660–1685
James II 1685–1689
William III & Mary II (1689–94) 1689–1702
Anne 1702–1714
George I 1714–1727
George II 1727–1760
George III 1760–1820
George IV 1820–1830
William IV 1830–1837
Victoria 1837–1901
Edward VII 1901–1910
George V 1910–1936
Edward VIII 1936–1936
George VI 1936–1952
Elizabeth II 1952–
CONTENTS
Title Page
Dedication
INTRODUCTION
1. QUEEN ELIZABETH II
2. PRINCE PHILIP
3. BUCKINGHAM PALACE
4. PRINCE CHARLES
5. PRINCES WILLIAM AND HARRY
6. PRINCESS ANNE
7. PRINCESS DIANA
8. THE DUKE AND DUCHESS OF YORK
9. PRINCE EDWARD AND SOPHIE
10. PRINCESS MARGARET
11. MEDIEVAL MONARCHS 1066–1154
12. THE PLANTAGENETS 1154–1399
13. THE HOUSE OF LANCASTER 1399–1461
14. THE HOUSE OF YORK 1461–1485
15. THE TUDORS 1485–1603
16. THE STUARTS 1603–1649
17. CROMWELL, LORD PROTECTOR OF ENGLAND 1649–1658
18. THE STUARTS (RESTORATION) 1660–1714
19. THE HANOVERIANS 1714–1901
20. THE SAXE-COBURGS 1901–1917
21. THE HOUSE OF WINDSOR 1917–
22. ANCIENT AND FOREIGN ROYALTY
23. THE LINE OF SUCCESSION
24. THE ORDER OF PREFERENCE
Copyright
QUEEN ELIZABETH II
The 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 twiceweekly 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 decommissioned 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