Ten Things You Didn’t Know About The Queen

By Kristen Palmer, Communications Intern

I’m obsessed with Kate Middleton. Obsessed.

I’m also obsessed with her husband, his brother, their dad, their deceased mom, and their cousins (Princesses) Beatrice and Eugenie. I’d even hang out with their butler. I’m pretty much obsessed with anything Buckingham (which, by the way, is pronounced Buhk-ing-uhm, not Buhk-ing-ham, for you royal newbies).

And the woman in charge? Queen Elizabeth II.

She’s the coolest of them all, and not only because she wears the crown, but because she’s intriguing and even a little mysterious. She’s never given a press interview! There are few official quotations attributable to the Queen (one of them being: “I should like to be a horse.”). Based on what we do know of her, the Queen is pretty normal and maybe a bit quirky. According to Tesco magazine:

· The Queen has 30 godchildren.

· She carries with her a portable hook and suction cup so that she can discretely hang her handbag under tables.

· Need an ATM? The Queen doesn’t, and that’s because there’s a Coutts cash machine in the Palace.

· In 1982, Michael Fagan (a then unemployed father of four) climbed a drain pipe into the Queen’s bedroom. He sat on her bed for 10 minutes while she engaged him in conversation. It wasn’t until Fagan asked for a cigarette that she calmly called for her footman.

· Her childhood nickname was Lilibet. Why? Because she couldn’t pronounce Elizabeth.

· She has owned more than 30 Corgis (dogs). One of them mated with Princess Margaret’s dachshund and created a new breed: Dorgi.

· The Queen doesn’t have a passport. In fact, she’s the only person in Britain who is not required to have one.

· She is a faithful reader of the Racing Post.

· She is a patron of more than 600 charities and organizations.

· Her robes were so heavy that at the start of her Coronation, she asked the Archbishop of Canterbury to give her a push (“Get me started!”).

The Queen is of particular interest to us this year because 2012 is the year of her Diamond Jubilee. Lost? I had to look it up myself. It means she has been Queen for 60 years.

When she started, she looked like this:

 

 

 

 

 

 

And now she looks like this:

Long live the Queen!

To learn more about Her Majesty The Queen, be sure to tune into WNED-TV Sundays, July 1-22 at 8 p.m.