In 1952, Princess Elizabeth of York (aged only 26) became Queen of the United Kingdom and its Commonwealth.
70 years later, she is celebrating her platinum jubilee and as of 2022 has now become the longest reigning monarch in British history.
Chances are, that you already know a lot about the Queen, so what about the things you don’t know?
Most people don’t know what her official title is. The Queen doesn’t use a second name, probably because as you’ll see her title takes up 75% of this article.
The Queen’s official title is:
‘Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and of her other Realms and Territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith’
Quite the mouthful, you can see why she has stuck with the more simple title of The Queen.
More Blogs From DRPT:
Eurovision 2022: An SEO Specialist’s Secret To Winning
How Not To Sell On Facebook Marketplace
Follow us into a monarchical adventure, where we’ll dive into the relatively mundane facts to the downright wacky conspiracy theories that are floating around the internet.
Like for example:
- Do you know what football team The Queen supports?
- Why does our monarch have two birthdays?
- And what is the Lizard Queen conspiracy theory?
Yes, we know it’s crazy, but some people really do believe that our very own Queen Lizzy is a shapeshifting extraterrestrial reptile.
The Platinum Jubilee
Queen Elizabeth is a quintessentially British icon, and the upcoming Jubilee celebrations are really bringing out the nation’s patriotic pride.
You won’t even be able to cross a street corner in the UK this week without seeing the Union Jack somewhere.
Considering how long her reign has continued on for, it’s impressive that her public opinion is possibly better than ever.
She has shifted the monarchy into the modern day and at its lowest points has managed to rejuvenate Britain’s love for the royal family.
The Queen is currently the third longest reigning monarch in history and will replace Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand in second place on the 13th June 2022.
In 2 years time she could possibly displace Louis XIV of France as the longest reigning monarch of all time whose reign is 72 years 110 days.
Here are some quickfire facts about just how long The Queen has sat upon the British throne:
- 4 out of 5 people in the UK were not born when the Queen took to the throne.
- The average house price in the UK in 1952 (When Elizabeth took the throne) was just £2028
- KFC had just opened their doors in America
- The Diary of Anne Frank was published
- The first Mr Potato Head was sold.
That in itself is fascinating, The Queen has been on the throne as long as Mr Potato Head has been on our shelves.
The entire landscape of not just the UK but the world has changed in those 70 years.
She’s been on the throne for a number of key historical events here are just some of them:
- Formation of the Commonwealth 1953
- England’s first and only world cup win 1966
- First man on the moon 1969
- UK joining the European Union 1973
- Creation of the World Wide Web 1989
- Fall of the Berlin Wall 1989
- London Olympics & Diamond Jubilee 2012
- UK voting to leave European Union 2016
- COVID-19 Pandemic 2020
Why Does The Queen Have Two Birthdays?
The simple answer to this question is that it is too cold for a parade in April.
The Queen has two birthdays, her official birthday on the 21st April and another on the second Saturday of June.
It’s not uncommon for monarchs who have birthdays in colder and wetter months to do this.
George II was the first monarch to start the tradition as his birthday fell in November, this again would be too cold for the celebratory parade.
Instead he tied his birthday in with the Trooping the Colour military parade.
This is what the Queen does and is what Prince Charles is likely to do with his Birthday in November when he takes the throne.
Prince William has a June birthday so when he becomes the country’s monarch it’s unsure as to whether or not he will be so lucky to have two birthdays.
Trooping the Colour celebrations are aligned with the Queen’s birthday honour’s list where people in the UK are awarded for their services to the Kingdom.
This year Trooping the Colour will be celebrated alongside the jubilee.
The Queen With Technology
Most 96 year olds out there aren’t the most tech savvy in the world. But the Queen isn’t your average 96 year old.
As times have changed during her reign she has attempted to move with them.
She probably doesn’t know what SEO is, but who can blame her?
During the Second World War she broadcast her first radio message in 1940.
At just 14, she and her sister Margaret called on evacuated children to have courage during the war as they knew what it was like to be separated from those that they loved.
In 1969 when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first men on the moon the Queen was one of 73 figureheads that sent a message to him.
The message read:
“On behalf of the British people, I salute the skills and courage which have brought man to the moon. May this endeavour increase the knowledge and well-being of mankind”
This message is still on the moon today. It can be found on a disc near the landing spot of Apollo 11.
Elizabeth II sent her first email in 1976, during an engagement at a military base.
This email was to announce the arrival of a new programming language that had been developed.
Interestingly, email was only in its infancy and had only been around for 5 years up to that point, so it’s highly likely the Queen was one of the first to use email in the UK.
The Queen continues to grow with the trends of our ever changing world.
In 2014 she sent her first tweet using the username @royalfamily. The drag queen world has taken over the @queen so using the royal family was probably a safe bet.
She has a relatively low Twitter following sitting at over 4m.
Putting this into perspective, the top 3 most followed accounts in the world all have over 100m followers being Katy Perry, Justin Bieber and Barack Obama.
Royal Duties
One of the most bizarre rules about being The Queen is that she is exempt from carrying a drivers license and she doesn’t need a license plate on her car.
The reason Elizabeth II wouldn’t need any of this, is because all of the official licenses in the UK are issued in her name.
Even though The Queen has never sat a driving test, she can still drive and is legally allowed to do so.
During the war The Queen was a trained mechanic and truck driver and was able to put these skills to good use.
These days she can be seen driving round the estates usually in her Range Rover.
The Queen has been fundamental in keeping the monarchy up with the times.
The Royals walking in and around us common folk is something we see as normal these days.
However when she had originally taken the throne in 1952 this wasn’t commonplace.
In fact, it wasn’t until 1970 when The Queen was touring Australia when the first Royal walkabout took place.
Elizabeth II bucked the trend and was happy to mingle and meet the crowds.
In total The Queen has sat for over 200 official portraits! The very first was in 1933.
Often in these portraits, she is seen wearing bright colours. Her fondness for bright colours can also be seen during her public appearances.
The queen doesn’t just wear bright colours because she likes to it also makes it easy for the security team to spot her in the crowd.
Even her purse is emblematic of British nationalism, she carries it everywhere.
This isn’t because she’s giving out money to the masses, she actually only carries money on her on Sundays so she can donate it to her local church.
The Queen actually uses the purse to communicate to her staff.
If you find yourself talking to her and she shifts it from one hand to the other it’s bad news for you.
That is the signal to end the conversation and move on.
Did You Know?
National Anthem
The national anthem has often come under criticism for being too short.
However the official song actually has another 5 verses to it.
It was first used in 1745 during the reign of George II.
Where the words were “God save Great George our king”.
The lyrics were later changed to “Gracious” due to Victoria and Willams name not fitting the song.
Nicknames
Apart from David Icke calling Queen Elizabeth the Lizard Queen, she actually has a few nicknames that only her close family and friends call her.
The first being Lilibet that was given to her when she was younger and she couldn’t pronounce her own name.
Lilibet became a popular nickname for the Queen that many in the royal household used.
You may have noticed that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle paid homage to the name naming their second child Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor
The second and more unusual nickname came from Prince Phillip who lovingly called her ‘Cabbage’.
Corgis
The Queen has owned over 30 Corgis in her lifetime.
From the first Corgi being called Susan to her latest Corgis Muick and Sandy.
She has also been the accidental creator of the Dorgi, a mix between a Corgi and a Daschund.
Leaders
There have been 14 UK Prime Ministers, 14 US Presidents and 6 Popes during the 70 year reign of Queen Elizabeth.
Winston Churchill was Prime Minister when the Queen took to the throne, quite different from the current leader in Boris Johnson.
Animals
The Queen owns all unmarked swans in the UK. She also owns all dolphins, whales and sturgeons in British waters.
It is an act of treason to harm these animals that are owned by the Queen.
You might not get a public execution like in medieval times for treason but it is still a serious offence.
During the Queen’s travels she has also been gifted many exotic animals including elephants, sloths, toucans and more.
She donates any animal she receives to the London Zoo.
Sports
A lot of the Royals have associated themselves with a football club and the Queen is the same.
It is reported that she is an Arsenal fan although does not often attend games.
The Queen is very fond of horses and her horses can be seen racing in many events throughout the year.
Conspiracy Theories
Being in the public eye for so long you’re going to get some strange and sometimes downright crazy things written about you.
David Icke has possibly one of the stranger theories when it comes to the Queen.
He suggests that the Royals are shapeshifting extraterrestrial reptiles and that they are part of the illuminati.
This is where the loving term “Lizard Queen” comes from.
He suggests the Royals have descended from a reptilian bloodline.
Whilst claiming there are accounts of these reptiles interbreeding with humans, forming ‘hybrid bloodlines’
From there these hybrids became demi-gods, part human part god.
He stated that these hybrids were the ones who became royals.
Icke himself is a serial conspiracy theorist so you’ll have to take what he says with a pinch of salt.
Time To Celebrate!
Queen Elizabeth II is Great British icon and is what most people first think of when confronted with the terms England, United Kingdom and the Commonwealth.
In periods of so much change in the world she has been the one of the only constants.
For so many of us, Queen Elizabeth the II is the only monarch we have ever known.
Here’s to 70 years and many more years of the Queen’s reign.
We hope that you enjoy the jubilee celebrations just as much as we will.
Andrew Wright
Latest posts by Andrew Wright (see all)
- SEO Quick Guide - 20th December 2022
- Who Is SEO For? - 2nd November 2022
- Commonwealth Games 2022- Let The Games Begin - 26th July 2022
