The longest reigning monarch of the United Kingdom, Queen Elizabeth II, was no ordinary woman. Here are some of the major anecdotes about her life and personality.
Elizabeth II, who had ruled the United Kingdom for 70 years, passed away at the age of 96 on Thursday, September 8 at her Balmoral home in Scotland, surrounded by her closest friends and family.
The following day, Prince Charles was crowned King of the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland as Charles III, according to the order of succession. However, no one was aware of what caused Elizabeth II's passing.
Princess Elizabeth's standing was similar to that of Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie of York today throughout the first ten years of her life, but all changed after the death of her grandpa, King George V, in 1936.
The next monarch in line was Elizabeth's uncle Edward VIII, who gave up the monarchy less than a year after ascending to it in order to wed Wallis Simpson, an American socialite. Since Edward didn't have any children at the time, Elizabeth's father, Albert, who succeeded to the throne as George VI, made the then-10-year-old Elizabeth the first in line to succeed to the throne.
Heirs apparently do not simply enrol in elementary school like other students. Instead, Elizabeth had private religious instruction from the Archbishop of Canterbury while receiving tutoring at home from several professors, including Henry Marten, vice-provost of Eton College (which is currently exclusively for boys).
Elizabeth didn't necessarily lack an education just because she didn't go to school. She received most of it from Marion Crawford, her nanny, also known as "Crawfie" by the Royal Family. The Little Princesses, a 1953 tell-all book written without the Royal Family's consent that detailed Crawford's interactions with Elizabeth when she was younger, led to Crawford's eventual exclusion from the Royal Family.
On November 20, 1947, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who were third cousins, were wed. They both had Queen Victoria and Prince Albert as great-great-grandparents.
She enjoyed a variety of activities, such as horseback riding, pigeon racing, and football. She was a fan of Arsenal!
Despite visiting more than 115 nations throughout her hundreds of official state visits, Elizabeth II was the most travelled head of state in history and didn't even have a passport. She didn't technically require a passport because they are all officially issued in the Queen's name.
She was the only person in the UK who could drive without a permit, and she continued to do so well into her advanced age!
Corgis were the Queen's preferred breed of dog. She even created the "dorgi," a new breed of dog created when her Corgi mated with a Dachshund owned by her sister, Princess Margaret.
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