British monarch Queen Elizabeth II turned 90 today.
On her 90th birthday here are 90 interesting facts about Queen Elizabeth II:
1. She was born at 2:40 am on April 21, 1926 in Mayfair, London.
2. She was christened Elizabeth Alexandra Mary at Buckingham Palace on May 29, 1926.
3. Queen Elizabeth II is named after her mother.
4. Elizabeth’s father became King George VI when King Edward abdicated the throne to marry Wallis Simpson.
5. After abdication, she became first in line to the throne.
6. Queen Elizabeth was educated at home.
7. Her queen lessons included constitutional history and law.
8. She met Prince Philip at a wedding in 1934.
9. Elizabeth and Phillip became the first Royal couple to celebrate 60 years of marriage.
10. Elizabeth and Philip married at Westminster Abbey on November 20, 1947.
11. She became queen when King George VI died in 1952.
12. Her coronation was the first to be televised in England.
13. She was coronated in Westminster Abbey in June 1953.
14. She recieved over 12,000 cards and letters on her diamond jubliee.
15. Queen Elizabeth II has made five official visits to the United States during her reign.
16. She has answered over 3.5 million items of correspondence so far.
17. She has owned over 30 Corgis.
18. She carries cash in her wallet only on Sundays.
19. The queen travelled through 36 counties in the UK and Northern Ireland in 1977.
20. In the same year she travelled to Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea.
21. She celebrated 50 years of her reign in 2002.
22. Queen Elizabeth II celebrated her 80th birthday with 2,000 kids at her palace.
23. In 2002, she recieved nearly 40,000 birthday cards from the public.
24. She returned to her honeymoon location with Philip to recreate their wedding photos on their 60th wedding anniversary.
25. Her favourite animals are dogs and horses.
26. She is also interested in Schottish country dancing.
27. The queen celebrates her birthday twice , once in April and once in June.
28. She meets with the British Prime Minister once a week for an hour.
29. She is fluent in French.
30. There have been twelve US presidents since her reign began.
31. Queen Elizabeth has 30 god-children.
32. She became the first British monarch to visit the Republic of China in 1986.
33. She sent her first email in 1976.
34. Her zodiac sign is Taurus.
35. She is the longest reigning monarch in British history.
36. She made her first radio braodcast during World War II.
37. She was appointed colonel-in-chief of the Grenadier Guards by her father and made her first appearance inspecting troops in 1942.
38. She joined Auxiliary Territorial Service to help war efforts in 1945.
39. She is a trained driver and a mechanic.
40. She became the first British monarch to visit Germany in 1965 in more than five decades.
41. She traveled to the US in 1976 to mark the 200th anniversary of America’s independence from Britain.
42. Lord Mountbatten was her husband’s uncle.
43. She lost her sister Margaret and mother in 2002.
44. In 2011, she became the first British monarch to visit the Republic of Ireland since 1911.
45. Elizabeth handles roughly 430 engagements each year and supports hundreds of charitable organizations and programs.
46. During her past time, she enjoys working on crossword puzzles and reading mysteries.
47. In 2005, she opened the first children’s trail in Buckingham Palace.
48. She is the only person in the UK who doesn’t need a driver’s licence to drive.
49. The queen doesn’t need a passport to travel internationally.
50. She has visited more than 115 countries.
51. The Queen donates the gifted rare animals she recieves to the London Zoo.
52. She collected rationing coupons to pay for her wedding dress.
53. Prince George calls her “Gan-Gan”.
54. Queen Elizabeth II referenced her June Game of Thrones set tour in her Christmas message after visiting Belfast in 2014.
55. She has given assent to more than 3,500 Acts of Parliament during her reign.
56. The queen has travelled overseas more than 250 times.
58. She has visited the Vatican three times.
59. Two British Prime Ministers born during her reign are Tony Blair and David Cameron.
60. She has attended every Parliament opening with an exception of two, during which she was expecting two of her children.
61. The queen and the Duke of Edinburgh have sent more than 45,000 Christmas cards.
62. She has conferred over 404,500 honors and awards.
63. She has held a total of 610 investitures.
64. She is Britain’s 40th monarch since William the Conqueror was crowned.
65. At least 1.5 million people have attended garden parties at Buckingham Palace since Elizabeth took over the throne.
66. The queen has claimed ownership of 88 young swans on the River Thames who are looked after by a royal swan keeper.
67. The queen owns the sturgeons, whales and dolphins.
68. She joined Facebook in November 2010.
69. She joined Twitter in July 2009.
70. To mark the 50th anniversary of Queen’s first televised address, a YouTube channel called the Royal Channel was launched in December 2007.
71. Royal yacht Britannia, which was comissioned by the queen in April 1953, has traveled more than 1.6 million miles.
72. Britannia was first used by Elizabeth when she travlled from Tobruk, Libya to London on May 1, 1954.
73. She has visited Australia 16 times, Canada 22 times and New Zealand 10 times.
74. She has sent more than 175,000 telegrams to centenarians in the UK and the Commonwealth.
75. The queen has attended 35 Royal Variety Performaces.
76. There have been six Roman Catholic Popes during her reign.
77. She has launched 23 ships in her reign.
78. She has given out approximately 90,000 Christmas puddings to her staff.
79. She was a Girl Guide in 1937 and a Sea Ranger in 1943.
80. She travelled in the London Underground subway system for the first time in May 1939.
81. The first soccer match that she attended was FA Cup final in 1953.
82. The queen has sat for 129 official portraits during her reign.
83. Her first and only hologram portrait contains more than 10,000 images of her layered over one other, giving a 3D effect.
84. Her first Commonwealth tour began on Nov. 24, 1953, which included visits to Bermuda, Jamaica, Panama, Fiji, Tonga, New Zealand, Australia, the Cocos Islands, Ceylon, Aden, Uganda, Libya, Malta and Gibraltar.
85. She sent a congratulatory message to Apollo 11 astronauts for the first moon landing on July 21, 1969.
86. She sent her first e-mail in 1976.
87. She visited a mosque in the U.K. for the first time in July 2002.
88. The Queen has attended 56 royal Maundy services in 43 cathedrals during her reign.
89.She is the first member of the royal family to be awarded a gold disc from the recording industry.
90. The Queen has an extensive collection of jewellry, most of which are crown jewels.