Queen Elizabeth II reigned for 70 years, from 1953 to 2022. Join us on a trip back through history to discover our favourite facts about her reign…

15 facts about the Queen

queen elizabeth ii childhood

1. Queen Elizabeth II was born at 2.40am on 21 April 1926.

Her parents were the Duke and Duchess of York, who later became King George VI and Queen Elizabeth (the Queen Mother).

2. She was crowned Queen on 2 June 1953.

The ceremony was watched by a TV audience of 20 million people. Her reign ended on 8 September 2022, when she passed away peacefully at Balmoral Castle, Scotland, and her son, King Charles III, was crowned.

Did you know that we have a FREE downloadable Queen Elizabeth II primary resource? Great for teachers, homeschoolers and parents alike!

queen elizabeths ii

3. She was the longest reigning monarch ever in Britain.

Queen Elizabeth II was on the throne for 70 years, beating even Queen Victoria (her great-great-grandma!).

4. As Queen, she was served by 15 UK Prime Ministers.

These included Winston Churchill, Margaret Thatcher and more recently, Boris Johnson. Facts about the Queen: Elizabeth II pictured with Winston Churchill

5. Her favourite dogs were corgis.

She even invented a new breed of dog when her corgi mated with a dachshund belonging to her sister, Princess Margaret. It was called the “dorgi”.

6. She was the only person in the UK allowed to drive without a licence.

And she kept driving even in her later years!

7. Queen Elizabeth II had two birthdays.

Her actual birthday was 21 April, but her ‘official’ birthday was held on a Saturday in June – when the weather was better! young queen elizabeths ii

8. Her birthplace is now a fancy Cantonese restaurant.

It’s called Hakkasan, at 17 Bruton Street in Mayfair – we hope she liked a takeaway!

9. Queen Elizabeth II first sent an email in 1976…

… and published her first Instagram post in 2019! queen elizabeth ii coronation

10. She had many hobbies.

These included horse riding, pigeon racing and football – she was an Arsenal supporter!

11. Queen Elizabeth became a homeowner at just six years old.

Her first property was a house in the grounds of Windsor’s Royal Lodge, gifted to her by the people of Wales. It was named Y Bwthyn Bach, which means “little cottage”. queen-elizabeths ii and prince george

 12. In her lifetime, Queen Elizabeth II sent around 50,000 Christmas cards.

What a lot of post! 

13. She owned an elephant, two giant turtles, a jaguar and a pair of sloths.

These creatures were all gift from other countries. They now live in London Zoo.

queen elizabeth ii and corgis

14. Princess Elizabeth made her first radio broadcast in October 1940, during the Second World War.

15. Even the monarch went undercover sometimes…

On a low-key trip to Scotland, she met some American tourists while walking. When the tourists asked if she lived locally, she mentioned that she had a house nearby, and when asked if she’d ever met the Queen she simply pointed at her security guard and said, “No, but he has!”

Check out our cool comic about Queen Elizabeth II

… and print it out, here! queen elizabeth ii comic

If you enjoyed this article, make sure you check out some of our other awesome history pages, too! Go back in time to discover Queen Elizabeth I or Queen Victoria, then jump to present day to learn about King Charles III

What do you think of our facts about Queen Elizabeth II? Let us know by leaving a comment below!

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COMMENTS

  • abbie

    this was really helpful thank you

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    maybe next time add more facts!

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    i always wanted to know about Queen Elizabeth ll and these facts are awsome

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    Our Queen is one very smart Lady

  • Natalie Singh

    Hi I am a really big fan of queen Elizabeth and I wanna be a queen when I grow up. Queen Elizabeth is my idol also.

  • skye

    i didn't even know one of those facts! these were mind blowing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • Aliyah

    The queen is nice

  • 1539

    interesting

  • Jasmin

    This is amazing! I never knew that the queen owned an elephant, twin turtles a jaguar and a pair of sloths! I wonder what there names are. I’d call on Jerry

  • EMMA

    So much facts trying to keep them in my head.

  • Littlecutetortoise22

    WOW I L-O-V-E-D reading these the queen was born on the 21st and became 90 on the 21st too!

  • Karlia

    I think the facts are pretty cool, I Love the Queen because she has some of the same hobbies as me. She has the same name as the little girl in the movie Drop dead Fred. Please bring the Queen to Mackay so I can meet her.

  • yamine

    how come she survived the 2 world wars BTW there's the royal wedding in the 19th of may that's after SATS and on that day its my birthday yyyyyyyyyyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!!!

  • yamine

    I didn't knew that the queen had an elephant, two giant turtles, a jaguar and a pair of sloths!!!!!!!!! amazing

  • Charlie

    I like the queens sloths And how did she get them?

  • 5aqua

    awesome, beautiful lady

  • Sophia Yang

    She has sloths?????????????????

  • Eli

    The comic was cool! I really liked the facts as well.

  • filip

    that's a lot of animals she has! I don't even have a pet!

  • she is quite amazing

  • Pip

    WOW !!!!!

  • NusSye_01

    Omg, never knew this stuff!

  • lioness

    such interesting facts

  • tiarnan o sullivan

    the 15 facts were actually quite interesting. I thought it was going to be boring

  • Oscar

    She is a great queen

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    The queen is a great lady

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    Learning about the Queen was very interesting

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    amazing and cooooooooool!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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    Awesome

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    Amazing

  • Starlight

    I can't believe that Queen Elizabeth is 91 years old that is so amazing!

  • Lexieann

    It's good for getting facts

  • Amy

    I loved this. I learnt a lot from this.

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    It's so interesting!!!

  • It has made me learn a bit about the queen I love this website somuch

  • JKa72

    WoW learnt something new today!

  • Skye

    I love the Queen! Once I sent a letter and got a reply! How cool is that?

  • JK82

    So cool fun facts

  • William Tillman

    Very interesting highly fascinating

  • Choclover20

    Wow! All these fun facts were great! Thanks for teaching me something I didn't know.

  • Skye

    I new some facts but not all of the facts.

  • Deborah Walelu

    Very cool

  • Henry

    How old is she again?

  • ghostcat

    she has got lots of lovely pets. turtles are cool. i have a tortoise

  • Lu- lu

    Thank you

  • Zoe

    This is so very funny and informative!

  • Duchess Unicorn

    Fascinating! loved it never new most of those facts! hilarious!

  • Zoe Evans

    Really interesting facts about the queen

  • bethany

    in the past she has worked in a sweet store

  • loukasanderson

    i can not believe the fact that she is the longest reigning monarch ever!

  • Iliketurtles

    Nice

  • Queen ElizaBeth

    I love you QUEEN

  • Olivia

    It is pretty intresting to know about these things

  • Queen victoria

    She is a great and loyal thing to me

  • Anna

    WOAH!! These facts are so cool

  • Peter Brookes

    Fantastic lady and the best head of state that my country has had God bless her.

  • Pixel

    She owns a pair of sloths omg!!!

  • haylee mansson

    did not know the queen had 2 bdays

  • Fareeda

    I didn't know that the Queen was born on the 21st of April 1926.

  • Niamh wilde

    I love the queen her favourite Color is yellow

  • Srut

    I can not believe the fact that she is the longest reigning monarch ever!

  • wow!!!!!!!!!!

    love

  • Finley

    Good facts

  • Areeb

    i wish to live in buckingham palace

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    great

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    Lol

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    I never new that

  • kieran111

    I like this Thank you

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    cool

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    Fascinating!

  • Giraffe4ever

    Happy birthday your majesty. I never knew all of those amazing facts about our queen.

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    This is awesome

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    I am very happy that you support arsenal.

  • splashel

    LOL

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    Awesome

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    she must be so proud of herself

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    lol

  • SHADOWOWL-123-ABC-OMG

    SO INTERESTING AND RESOURCEFUL!!!!! LOL!

  • elaphant

    Cool

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    She is nice and talented

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    Wow I did not know this before

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    amizaing

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    These facts are just awsome even I like football too

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    Really liked. Amazing, ng kids.

  • CALLUM123

    cool facts

  • iloveguineapigs

    could be bigger

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