70 facts for 70 years of the Queen’s reign

Buckingham Palace has issued 70 facts to mark 70 years of the Queen’s reign.

Here they are:

– 1. On September 9 2015, the Queen became the longest reigning monarch in British history, surpassing the reign of her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria.

– 2. Within the Commonwealth alone, the Queen has made more than 150 visits during her reign.

– 3. The Queen has visited more that 100 countries as monarch, including Canada 22 times, more than any other country in the world, and France 13 times, more than any other country in Europe.

– 5. The Queen has carried out more than 21,000 engagements over the course of her reign.

– 6. The Queen has given Royal Assent to approximately 4,000 Acts of Parliament.

– 8. The Queen is currently patron of more than 500 organisations, including: more than 70 education and training organisations; over 60 sports and recreational organisation; over 30 faith organisations; and over 40 arts and cultural organisations.

– 9. The Queen has sent over 300,000 congratulatory cards to people celebrating their 100th birthdays, and over 900,000 messages to couples marking their Diamond (60th) Wedding Anniversaries.

– 10. At least 35 countries have issued coinage with the image of the Queen.

– 11. The Queen has held over 50 ranks and appointments in the British and Commonwealth Armed Services during her lifetime.

– 12. The Queen holds the title ‘Defender of the Faith and Supreme Governor of the Church of England’.

– 13. The Queen is a committed Christian and churchgoer and has often spoken of her faith in her speeches and broadcasts. “For me, the life of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, whose birth we celebrate today, is an inspiration and an anchor in my life, ” she said in her 2014 Christmas Broadcast.

“Christ’s example has taught me to seek to respect and value all people of whatever faith or none.”

– 14. The Queen has sat for over 200 official portraits during her reign, the first was in 1933 when she was seven-years old and was a portrait painted by Anglo-Hungarian artist Philip Alexius de Laszlo.

– 16. More than 180 garden parties have been held at Buckingham Palace since 1952 and over 1.5 million people have attended a Garden Party during the Queen’s reign.

– 18. The Queen has been served by 14 prime ministers of the United Kingdom during her reign – her first Prime Minister was Winston Churchill.

– 20. The Queen travelled on the London Underground for the first time in May 1939 with her governess Marion Crawford and her sister Princess Margaret.

Since then, she has opened the new section of the Victoria Line (1969); opened the Piccadilly Line extension to Heathrow Airport (1977); visited Baker Street Station to mark the 150th anniversary of the London Underground (2013); and visited the Crossrail construction site at Bond Street Station (2016).

– 21. The Queen made her first radio broadcast in 1940 when, aged 14, she recorded a message of support for young people affected by the war in Europe, particularly those being evacuated from their homes, on the BBC’s Children’s Hour.

“I can truthfully say to you all that we children at home are full of cheerfulness and courage,” she said.

– 22. The Queen joined the Auxiliary Territorial Service (the women’s branch of the British Army during the Second World War) in 1945, becoming the first female member of the Royal Family to join the armed services as a full-time, active member.

As a Subaltern, she learned to drive and maintain vehicles.

– 23. The Queen’s official overseas visit was in 1947 as Princess Elizabeth, when she toured South Africa, Southern Rhodesia (modern-day Zimbabwe) and the British Protectorate of Bechuanaland (Botswana) with King George VI and Queen Elizabeth.

The Queen celebrated her 21st birthday in South Africa, which was marked by a speech broadcast across the Commonwealth.

In the speech the Princess pledged nothing less than her life’s work to her subjects, saying: “I declare before you all that my whole life whether it be long or short shall be devoted to your service.”

– 24. The Queen’s first military appointment was as Colonel of the Grenadier Guards.

– 25. In 1953 she made the first Christmas broadcast from overseas, broadcasting live from New Zealand.

In the broadcast, the Queen spoke of how welcomed she felt: “I have travelled some thousands of miles through many changing scenes and climates on my voyage here.

“Despite all that, however, I find myself today completely and most happily at home.”

– 26. The Royal Yacht Britannia was first used by the Queen when she embarked with the Duke of Edinburgh on May 1 1954 at Tobruk, Libya, for the final stage of their Commonwealth Tour, returning to the Pool of London.

– 27. On March 26 1976, the Queen sent her first email during a visit to the Royal Radar Establishment, Malvern, now known as the Royal Signals and Radar Establishment.

The email was sent to the US Secretary of Defence to formally open the UK/US collaboration on a military programming language.

– 28. In 1986 the Queen became the first British Monarch to visit China.

– 30. In 1997 the Queen launched Buckingham Palace’s first official website, in 2014 she sent her first tweet and in 2019 published her first Instagram post.

– 31. In 2009 the Queen witnessed Swan Upping for the first time.

This annual event on the River Thames includes the weighing and measuring of the swans and checks are made on their health and well-being.

– 32. The Queen introduced the Elizabeth Cross in 2009.

It was the first medal to which she had put her name.

On announcing the Cross, she said: “This seems to me a right and proper way of showing our enduring debt to those who are killed while actively protecting what is most dear to us all.”

– 33. The Queen made a State Visit to Ireland in 2011, the first time a reigning British Monarch has visited the country since its separation from the United Kingdom.

– 34. In 2013 the Queen became the first Monarch to be presented with an Honorary Bafta award in recognition of a lifetime’s support of British film and television.

– 35. The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh celebrated their Platinum Wedding Anniversary in 2017, the first time a reigning monarch had done so.

– 36. To mark the Diamond Jubilee in 2012, the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant was held on June 3 2012.

– 37. The longest overseas tour that the Queen has undertaken began in Bermuda in November 1953 and ended in Gibraltar in May 1954.

– 38. The greatest number of countries that the Queen has visited in one trip is 14.

This was during her 1966 trip to the Caribbean.

– 39. In 1966 the Queen presented England football captain Bobby Moore with the World Cup Trophy.

– 40. In September 1966 the Queen visited the British Aircraft Corporation’s facilities in Filton, Bristol, and inspected the progress of the Concorde project.

– 41. In 1973 the Queen opened Sydney Opera House.

The inaugural Queen Elizabeth II Award for Design was presented to Richard Quinn during London Fashion Week 2018.

The Queen sat in the front row of Quinn’s show next to Dame Anna Wintour before presenting the award.

– 44. The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh were married on November 20 1947 in Westminster Abbey.

The then Princess Elizabeth, carried a bouquet of flowers which included a sprig of myrtle taken from a bush grown from the original myrtle in Queen Victoria’s wedding bouquet.

Her wedding ring was made from a nugget of Welsh gold, which came from the Clogau St David’s mine near Dolgellau and the official wedding cake was made by McVitie and Price Ltd, using ingredients given as a wedding gift by Australian Girl Guides.

On the journey to Westminster Abbey, The Queen wore the State Diadem: a circlet of diamonds, which she has gone on to wear for the journey to and from the State Opening of Parliament.

– 46. There were more than 2,000 journalists and 500 photographers from 92 nations on the Coronation route in 1953.

The Coronation Service was broadcast live on the BBC, enabling millions of people to see their Monarch crowned for the first time.

She was launched on April 16, 1953 and was commissioned for service in January 1954. During her time in service, Britannia travelled more than a million miles on Royal and official duties, transporting the Queen to over 700 Royal visits.

– 48. The Queen has made a Christmas Broadcast to the Commonwealth every year of her reign except 1969, when a repeat of the film Royal Family was shown and a written message from the Queen issued.

– 50. In 2016 the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh sent a message to British astronaut Tim Peake as he joined the International Space Station.

He responded with a video message from space saying, “Thank you again for your well wishes, ma’am. I hope I can bring the country together to celebrate Britain in space and our great tradition of scientific exploration. And before I sign off, I’m not sure that this has ever been said in space before, so I’ll be the first: God save The Queen.”

– 51. On the evening of the Coronation, the Queen made a radio broadcast in which she stated: “Throughout all my life and with all my heart I shall strive to be worthy of your trust”.

– 52. During her reign, the Queen has received many gifts including a variety of live animals.

– 53. There has been a Trooping the Colour Parade every year of the Queen’s reign, apart from 1955, which was cancelled due to a railway strike.

In 2020 and 2021 a smaller ceremony took place at Windsor Castle due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

– 55. The Queen was born at 2.40am on April 21 1926 at 17 Bruton Street in Mayfair, London, and was the first child of The Duke and Duchess of York, who later became King George VI and Queen Elizabeth.

The Shetland pony was called Peggy.

– 57. As British passports and driving licences are issued in the Queen’s name, she is not required to have either, a privilege held by her alone.

– 59. Almost 70 forest conservation projects across the Commonwealth have joined the Queen’s Commonwealth Canopy initiative since its launch in 2015, representing more than 100 million trees preserved for future generations as part of the fight against deforestation.

– 60. Sir Winston Churchill, her first prime minister, became a Member of Parliament during the reign of the Queen’s great-great grandmother, Queen Victoria.

– 61. The Queen (then Princess Elizabeth) became a Girl Guide In 1937 aged 11, learning how to pitch tents, cook on campfires and administer first aid.

At 16, she joined the Sea Rangers: a separate unit of the Girl Guides created for those with a strong naval interest. She was made a was made a Sea Ranger Commodore in 1945.

– 62. In 1969 the Queen was given a black mare, named Burmese, by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

– 63. Then 11-year-old Princess Elizabeth, attended her parents’ Coronation at Westminster Abbey in 1937 and wrote about it for the King and Queen in an essay entitled, To Mummy And Papa, In Memory Of Their Coronation. From Lilibet, By Herself. “I thought it all very, very wonderful and I expect the Abbey did, too,” she wrote.

“The arches and beams at the top were covered with a sort of haze of wonder as Papa was crowned, at least I thought so”.

– 64. The Queen’s Coronation dress was designed by British couturier Sir Norman Hartnell.

He submitted nine different designs and the Queen accepted the eighth.

– 65. The Queen’s Coronation ceremony was the first to be broadcast on television, as a result of which people purchased television sets in their millions.

– 66. On May 8 1945, Victory in Europe Day, the Queen (then Princess Elizabeth) and her sister Princess Margaret, aged 19 and 14 respectively, joined the crowds in London incognito, Princess Elizabeth with her ATS uniform cap pulled down over her face.

– 67. – The Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust has enabled over 100,000 people to have sight-saving surgery; treated more than 22 million people with antibiotics to reduce the spread of trachoma; built or upgraded over 81,000 latrines and washing facilities to prevent the spread of infection; screened over 13,000 babies for retinopathy of prematurity; and screened more than 200,000 people for diabetic retinopathy.

– 68. – The Queen has conducted over 650 investitures throughout her reign.

– 69. – The Queen has awarded the George Cross – given for “acts of the greatest heroism or of the most courage in circumstances of extreme danger” – collectively to just two groups over the course of her reign: officers and families of the Royal Ulster Constabulary for their bravery during the Troubles in Northern Ireland and, most recently, to NHS staff for their work during the coronavirus pandemic.