9 Fascinating Facts about Queen Elizabeth

Written by Olivier Guiberteau September 18, 2022

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1

HM Queen Elizabeth II died on 9th September 2022 at the age of 96 - bringing to an end an extraordinary 70-year reign that began all the way back in 1953. 

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2

During her reign, 15 separate UK Prime Ministers served under her, as well as 14 U.S Presidents. She met every one of them at least once, with the exception of Lyndon B Johnson. 

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3

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, the Queen’s husband who died in 2021, was also her third cousin as they were both the great-great-grandchildren of Queen Victoria. 

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4

The Queen’s love of corgis was well known and she owned more than 30 of them throughout her life, with the first, Dookie arriving in 1933, and the final, Muick and Sandy who survived her. 

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5

The Queen was part of the Auxiliary Territorial Service during World War II and drove ambulances for a time. She and her sister also secretly joined celebrations in London on VE Day. 

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6

The Queen was reported to be worth around $500 million and although she is not required by law to pay tax, she did so voluntarily from 1993 onwards. 

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7

Being British, the Queen was partial to a drink and was said to enjoy gin and Dubonnet before lunch, wine with lunch, and a dry martini and a glass of champagne in the evening. 

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8

She visited more than 100 countries as Head of State and travelled over 1 million miles, which is equivalent to going around the Earth forty times. 

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9

She used secret signals during her public engagements. A handbag on the table meant that she wanted the event to end quickly. If the bag was on the floor it meant she needed to be rescued.