[imagesource: Andrew Matthews/Getty Images]

There are countless little known titbits about Queen Elizabeth II.

(For the grammar nerds, in American and Canadian English, ‘tidbit’ is the preferred spelling whereas ‘titbit’ is preferred everywhere else.)

She’s lived a grand, royal life, having seen and done a great deal more than many mere mortals.

The most prominent fact making the rounds at the moment is that Queen Elizabeth II is the longest-serving monarch to ever sit on the throne.

She broke the longest-serving British monarch record in 2015 and has since gone on to become the first to reach 70 years as sovereign.

Hence all the Platinum Jubilee celebration hullabaloo going on across the UK at the moment.

In honour of that, Sky News did something fun and put together a list of 70 facts about the Queen, one for each of her 70 years on the throne.

We’ve plucked 10 of the more interesting morsels for your perusal below:

• The Queen has two birthdays, one in April and another in June, as sovereign birthdays are celebrated twice if theirs do not fall in summer.
• The Sunday Times Rich List 2022 put her net worth at £370m – a £5m increase in 2021.
• In Papua New Guinea, where she is the constitutional monarch, she is known in the pidgin language of Tok Pisin as “Missis Kwin”, and “Mama belong big family”.

Here’s the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh in Papua New Guinea in October 1982:

Image: Sky News

• She owns all the dolphins and whales in British waters. This dates back to a statute from 1324, which is still valid today and means the creatures have the title “fishes royal”.

Image: economictimes.indiatimes.com

• In 1981, she was shot at by a 17-year-old with a replica gun as she rode past crowds on horseback near Buckingham Palace. He was sentenced to five years in prison, serving three. Months later in Dunedin, New Zealand, another 17-year-old aimed a rifle at the Queen from a fifth-floor building overlooking a parade – but missed. He was sentenced to three years in prison.
• Among the unusual gifts she has received over the years are jaguars and sloths from Brazil and two black beavers from Canada. Animals gifted to the Queen are often placed in the care of the London Zoo. She has also been gifted pineapples, eggs and prawns.

Image: David Rose/The Daily Telegraph/PA Wire

• She has a cushion in her private sitting room at Balmoral embroidered with the words “It’s good to be Queen”.
• She sent a message of congratulations to Apollo 11 astronauts for the first Moon landing on 21 July 1969. The message was microfilmed and deposited on the Moon in a metal container.

Image: National Archives

• The reason she usually wears a single-colour outfit and decorative hat is to make sure she can be seen in a crowd.
• She created her own breed of dog – a “dorgi” – when one of her corgis mated with a dachshund named Pipkin that belonged to Princess Margaret.

That reminds me of the time a UK minister ate biscuits meant for the Queen’s corgis.

For the other 60 facts about Her Majesty, head here.

[source:skynews]