Queen Elizabeth ruled Britain for more than 70 years, becoming the longest-serving monarch in British history due to her diplomatic skills.
Her life was full of scandals, from secret affairs & meetings with spies to internal family drama till her death at 97.
Let’s uncover unknown facts of her life tales that make her reign one of the most debated in history.
1. She never went to school but had various talents.
– Like many royals of her time and before, Elizabeth never went to a public school and was never exposed to other students. Instead, she was educated at home with Margaret, her younger sister.
– Her schooling included learning to ride, swim, dance and the study of fine art and music. She was taught by her father, along with a senior teacher at Eton College, several French and Belgian governesses who taught her French, and the Archbishop of Canterbury, who taught her religion.
2. She also served in army as a driver and mechanic.
– During World War II, Queen Elizabeth II served in the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS), making her the first female member of the royal family to join the armed forces as a full-time active member.
– She trained as a driver and mechanic, learning to repair and drive heavy vehicles. Her service in the ATS demonstrated her commitment to the war effort and provided her with valuable skills and experiences that shaped her approach to leadership and duty.
– 3. She met Prince Philip at age 13 and they were third cousins.
– Technically, Elizabeth and her husband, Philip, were third cousins. Elizabeth is related to Queen Victoria on her father’s side, and Philip was related to Queen Victoria on his mother’s side.
– Philip was born into the royal families of Greece and Denmark but renounced his original titles when he married Elizabeth. They were married for 73 years before his death on April 9, 2021.
– 4. She was technically not in line for taking the throne.
– Queen Elizabeth II wasn’t expected to become queen; she was born in 1926 to Prince Albert, the Duke of York, the second son of King George V.
– Her uncle, King Edward VIII, abdicated in 1936 to marry Wallis Simpson, an American divorcée and that unexpected event made her father King George VI, placing Elizabeth next in line for the throne and setting her on the path to become Britain’s longest-serving monarch.
5. She awarded the British Soldiers responsible for Killing civilians.
– Bloody Sunday was a massacre on 30 January 1972 when British soldiers shot 26 unarmed civilians during a protest march in the Bogside area of Northern Ireland. Thirteen men were killed outright and the death of another man four months later was attributed to gunshot injuries from the incident.
– Many of the victims were shot while fleeing from the soldiers, and some were shot while trying to help the wounded. The Queen of England insulted the memory of the dead of Bloody Sunday by awarding Lt Col Wilford the OBE at the first possible opportunity after the massacre.
– “By decorating the senior army personnel involved in the slaughter on that day it was clearly a calculated insult to the nationalist people of Derry and to the families of the deceased of Bloody Sunday. I think it is a situation that can be reversed.
6. She liked to get woken up by the sound of bagpipes.
– When the Queen spent her time at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, she was often woken up to the sound of bagpipes, played by her official ‘Piper to the Sovereign’.
– he would play every day at her window from 9am, for around 15 minutes in order to start the monarch’s day with music. He is said to have played a different song every time, as the Queen didn’t like too many repeats.
– Touchingly, the Piper to the Sovereign actually also played at the Queen’s funeral, opting for the lament, ‘Sleep, dearie, sleep’, which was played towards the end of the service at Westminster Abbey-
– 7. She once found an intruder in her room.
– In 1982, Queen Elizabeth II experienced a shocking breach of security when an intruder, Michael Fagan, broke into Buckingham Palace and entered her bedroom.
– Fagan, who managed to scale the palace walls and evade security, found the Queen alone in her room. Despite the alarming situation, Elizabeth remained remarkably calm and engaged Fagan in conversation until help arrived.
– This incident highlighted significant lapses in royal security and led to major overhauls in palace protection measures, but also showcased the Queen’s composure in the face of danger.
– 8. She used to celebrate 2 birthdays in an year.
– Elizabeth was born on April 21, 1926, but it was sometimes confusing for the public to know when to celebrate as there was no universally fixed day for her “official birthday”, it’s either the first, second or third Saturday in June, and was decided by the government.
– Monarchs with birthdays in colder months typically schedule an additional, official birthday when the weather is likely to be better for a parade. Elizabeth had one every June called Trooping the Colour.
– Only the queen and those closest to her celebrated her actual birthday in private gatherings.
9. She also used to pay taxes, at least she told she did.
– She may have been the queen, but she paid taxes, too at least since 1992. When Windsor Castle, the queen’s weekend residence, was ravaged by fire in 1992, the public rebelled against paying millions of pounds for repairs.
– But she voluntarily agreed to pay tax on her personal income. She said she would meet 70 percent of the cost of restoration work, and she also decided to open her home at Buckingham Palace to the public for the first time to generate extra funds from admission fees.-