With a recent surprise jubilee day 4 appearance on the palace balcony, Queen Elizabeth is renowned as the longest-serving British monarch. She is a global icon when it comes to elegance and responsibility. Despite spending decades living her life in the eye of the media, she is a relatively private monarch. Elizabeth is a believer in keeping the monarchy a mystery to the outside world. For this reason, she has kept her private life completely hidden. These might be the reason why these little-known facts about the adoring grandma and self-sufficient woman are so endearing.
She married her third cousin- Prince Philip; Philip and the Queen share great-great-grandparents, Prince Albert and Queen Victoria, who were first cousins. As a result, they are third cousins. She fell for Prince Philip when she was 13 years old- When Princess Elizabeth met Philip Mountbatten, who was then an 18-year-old cadet in the British navy, she was just a pre-teen. At age 17, Elizabeth had decided he was the guy she wanted to spend her life with.
They were secretly engaged for three years. The press discovered the link between them when they saw Philip assisting the princess in putting her coat on during her wedding in 1946. The pair was privately engaged at the time, but the Palace delayed making the official announcement for three years until Elizabeth was 21. Their marriage set a record- The royal love tale of Elizabeth and Philip has endured the test of time. They've been together for 73 years. Elizabeth II became the first British Queen to commemorate her diamond wedding anniversary in 2007 after achieving a milestone of 60 years of marriage.
Philip nicknamed her after a vegetable- Her husband fondly referred to her as "cabbage." No one is certain about this, but The Sunday Times speculated in 2006 that it may have originated from the French term "mon petit chou," which translates to "my little pastry puff" or "my tiny cabbage". She's a big Downton Abbey fan- The Queen has watched every episode of the popular British period drama. She is said to have enjoyed pointing out the few historical mistakes in the series to others who watched it with her.
She eats a surprisingly un-royal breakfast- The Queen's favourite breakfast, despite having a royal chef and a culinary team at her disposal, is Kellogg's Corn Flakes, which she stores mostly on the breakfast table in a Tupperware container. She also enjoys Twinings Earl Grey tea with milk and no sugar.
She was a mechanic during World War II- King George VI initially opposed his daughter enlisting, but he finally agreed. In 1945, Princess Elizabeth was part of the Women's Auxiliary Territorial Service. This made her the royal family's lone female military member.
During the war, she served as a truck driver and mechanic. She's been known to work with the Range Rovers at Balmoral when there are issues under the hood. Elizabeth decided not to adopt more corgis- During her lifetime, she has had over 30 Pembroke Welsh corgis, all of which were descendants of her first corgi named Susan. Willow, the most recent, died in 2018. The Queen reportedly informed her attendants that owing to her advanced age; she would not bring another corgi to Buckingham Palace.
The Queen Skypes with her great-grandchildren- According to reports, Her Majesty is a loving great-grandmother who adores her increasing family of great-grandkids. When she is away on trips, she utilizes Skype to keep in touch with the children and always carries with her small gifts from the trips. Kate Middleton claimed that when the Queen comes to visit, she likes to put tiny presents in George and Princess Charlotte's chambers.
Queen Elizabeth is the only citizen of the United Kingdom who has the authority to drive without a license- The Queen has not once taken a driver's test, and her vehicles have no registration plates, although she has always enjoyed driving. She doesn't have a license because she doesn't need one—all licenses in the United Kingdom are issued in her name. The Queen was reluctant to give up driving on public roads, but she did so after being persuaded by the security team.
The Queen went to her first fashion show in 2018- While she has always loved fashion, she just actually made her first front-row appearance at the runway show of up-and-coming designer Richard Quinn at London Fashion Week in 2018. Anna Wintour, Vogue's editor-in-chief, sat next to her. Her Majesty's chair was easy to spot because it was the only one with a striking velvet cushion.