Queen Elizabeth II fact file

Name: Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor.

Date of birth: 21 April 1926.

Date of death: 8 September 2022.

Birthdays: 21 April and 2nd Saturday in June (when the weather is better) - This tradition dates back to King George II (1683-1760) whose actual. birthday was in November. As the weather wasn’t reliable enough for large public celebrations of his birthday, his official birthday was moved to coincide with the Trooping of the Colour in summer.

Official title during her reign: Elizabeth II, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of her other realms and territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith.

Nickname: Lillibet.

Parents: Duke and Duchess of York, who later became King George VI and Queen Elizabeth (the Queen Mother).

School: Elizabeth and her sister Margaret were both homeschooled with courses including French, mathematics, history, art, dance, and singing lessons.

Marriage: On November 20, 1947, Elizabeth married the son of Prince Andrew of Greece, Philip Mountbatten. Later to become Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

Children: The Queen had four children, Charles (now His Majesty King Charles III), Anne, Andrew and Edward.

Date of accession: Queen Elizabeth II became Britain’s ruling monarch after the death of her father, King George VI, on February 6, 1952.

Coronation: June 2, 1953 The coronation was held in Westminster Abbey and was the first to be broadcast on television.

Countries of rule: The Queen was Head of the Commonwealth, a group of 54 independent countries who were once ruled by Great Britain but have since gained their independence. She was also Queen of 15 Commonwealth realms in addition to the UK. Australia, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Canada, Grenada, Jamaica, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, St Chirstopher and Nevis, St Lucia and Tuvalu.

Countries visited: Queen Elizabeth II visited 116 countries. She was probably the most widely-travelled head of state in history.

Length of reign: By 2022 Elizabeth II had reigned for 70 years - She was the longest reigning monarch in the world.

Favourite animals: Dogs (most famously corgis. She owned 30 in her reign. They’re all descendants of the first corgi she owned at the age of 18) and horses.

Favourite football team: Arsenal.

Languages: She spoke fluent French.

Driving license: None she was the only person in the UK who could drive without a licence.

First radio broadcast: As Princess Elizabeth, Elizabeth II made her first public speech on 13 October 1940, with a radio address to the children of the Commonwealth, many of them living away from home due to war.

First email: Elizabeth II sent her first e-mail on March 26 1976 from the Royal Signals and Radar Establishment (RSRE) in Malvern as a part of a demonstration of networking technology.

First tweet: Elizabeth II shared her first-ever tweet back in 2014 when celebrating a new exhibition at London's Science Museum. Her post read, "It is a pleasure to open the Information Age exhibition today at the @ScienceMuseum and I hope people will enjoy visiting."

Did you know?

Elizabeth II was a trained mechanic. As an 18 year old Princess during the Second World War she joined the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS), the women’s branch of the British Army. As part of her training she undertook a driving and vehicle maintenance course and qualified as a mechanic on 14 April 1945.