Who was the woman under the crown? What did the Queen love, what did she hate, did she tell dirty jokes in private? Ten things you didn’t know about Elizabeth II.
10 Things You Did Not Know About The Queen
Her oldest friend
Her oldest and longest friend’s name was Sonia Graham-Hodgson. The Queen met the commoner when she was four years old, Sonia eight months older. They stayed in touch until Graham-Hodgson’s death in 2012, inviting each other to parties and birthdays. At the age of eight, Elizabeth even dedicated a short story to “her dear little friend and horse lover.”
Elizabeth Only Cried Once In Public
Feelings don’t belong in public! That was the Queen’s motto. But she wasn’t immune to them either. She shed her only public tear in 1997 when her royal yacht, the Britannia, was retired. Too expensive. The ship was in Her Majesty’s service for 44 years. The royal family had completed more than 700 visits on the “Britannia”, Charles and Diana even their honeymoon.
Hair Color
The Queen stopped dying her hair in the early 1990s. Previously, she used the color “Chocolate Kiss”.
She Loved French Food
The Queen rarely ate out. Only very rarely did she dine in London’s fine restaurants such as the “Bellamy”. Then the French restaurant was completely closed so that she could eat with guests in peace.
Her Love For Soccer
A Regent shouldn’t actually side with any particular team. At Buckingham Palace, however, the boss’s football favorites were known: it was the London club West Ham United.
Elizabeth Liked To Knob
What does a queen do when she has free time? She did crossword puzzles. Her favorite: the riddle from the newspaper “The Daily Telegraph”.
Cover Girl
Portraits of the Queen often appear on the covers of various magazines. But only once did Elizabeth consciously stand in front of the camera and have herself photographed: For her 90th birthday, a cover story from the Queen appeared in the magazine “Vanity Fair”. The monarch photographed none other than star photographer Annie Leibovitz.
Her Love For Corgis
The Queen loved corgis. But the little watchdogs didn’t always turn out to be “everybodies darling”. A number of servants, guests and family members made unpleasant acquaintances with the “calf biters”. Elizabeth herself has also been bitten several times on the hand by her dogs. Once the wound had to be sewn up with three stitches. Incidentally, the Queen designed the gravestones for her deceased Corgis herself.
Elizabeth Could Sing Along To “Last Christmas”
The Queen was a passionate fan of the band Wham!. Apparently, the monarch was not only able to sing along to all the hits of her favorite musicians, she also wanted to meet them personally. In 1985 the time had come. On the sidelines of a polo tournament, Elizabeth had a long chat with the band’s musicians, George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley. According to Michael, she was “cute”. The Spice Girls are said to have done it to the Queen. She also liked listening to film music. Favorite: the American musical “Oklahoma!”
A Former Truck Driver
Elizabeth was probably the only monarch in the world who could change a spark plug. She was trained as a car mechanic and truck driver during World War II. However, she did not have an official driver’s license. As regent, the Queen did not need a passport.