32 things you probably didn’t know about Queen Elizabeth II

Before she donned her trademark brightly coloured dresses, coats and matching hats, Queen Elizabeth II wore a military uniform. Her father, the king at the time, was hesitant to let her join, but she eventually joined the Women’s Auxiliary Territorial Service in 1945. She worked as a mechanic and truck driver, according to History.com. Her service makes her the only current living head of state to have served in World War II, and the only female member of the royal family to have entered the military.

Before she entered the military, the outdoorsy Princess Elizabeth started her survival-skills training as a Girl Guide. Her mother was an early supporter of the organisation and enrolled Princess Elizabeth when she was 11, along with her sister, Princess Margaret. Elizabeth was part of the 1^st Buckingham Palace Company, formed in 1937 so the Princess could be a Girl Guide. The troop was made up of kids from the royal household and the children of palace employees. Princess Elizabeth can even be seen in a 1943 photograph practicing her bandaging skills on her little sister. She also joined the Sea Rangers, a group that teaches girls sailing and other water-based activities.

We’ve all seen the classic images: Queen Elizabeth II accompanied by her iconic corgis. But do you know the real extent of her love for corgis? She received her first, Susan, as a birthday present when she turned 18, according to the New York Times. She’s owned at least 30 Pembroke Welsh corgis, all descendants of Susan, the last of which, named Willow, died in April of 2018. She’s owned other breeds as well; most notably, the royal family has bred ‘dorgis’ – a mix between corgis and dachshunds.

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The Queen can drive without a licence, because they’re all actually issued in her name in the United Kingdom, according to Express. On her over 250 international visits to over 100 countries, she’s never needed a passport, for the same reason. Oh, and she’s exempt from taxes, but still voluntarily pays income and capital gains taxes.

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The rumours are true: Queen Elizabeth really does own all the swans in the United Kingdom – well, the unmarked mute swans, anyway. Every year, as per royal tradition, she has a team row through the River Thames to count the birds and check their health; this is called ‘swan upping’. She also can lay claim to any ‘fishes royal’ – dolphins, whales, porpoises, and sturgeons – caught within three miles of British shores.

When you’re a queen, you don’t really need to drag a purse with you, considering you have staff waiting on you hand and foot. She reportedly doesn’t carry money (just a lipstick, mirror and other essentials), so her bag’s main purpose is to send messages to her staff. When her bag goes on the floor, it’s a cry for help for a lady-in-waiting to save her from a dreadful conversation. If she puts her purse on the table during dinner, that’s a hint that she’d like the meal to wrap up pronto.

Queen Elizabeth wasn’t an uncaring mother, but she wasn’t exactly a warm-and-fuzzy mum. She notoriously left five-year-old Prince Charles and three-year-old Princess Anne back in England when she and Prince Philip went on a six-month tour of the Commonwealth in 1954. When she got back, she and Philip greeted kids not with big bear hugs, but with prim and proper handshakes. The parents later sent Charles to boarding school, despite the fact that he was miserable and bullied there, and Princess Anne admitted in a 2002 interview that their mum had time “limitations” when they were growing up, adding that Elizabeth cared for her four kids “in exactly the same way as any other mother did.”

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One thing you’ll never, ever see on the menu (if Queen Elizabeth has anything to say about it): garlic. Her former royal chef Darren McGrady told Recipes Plus that Her Majesty wasn’t picky, but hated garlicky food or anything with too much onion. Camilla Parker Bowles later confirmed on Masterchef Australia that “garlic is a no-no” for the royal family because they don’t want bad breath while meeting and greeting.

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Queen Elizabeth never went to prep school, and she doesn’t have a college degree. But she still got quite the education from her tutors at home. She learned constitutional history and law under Henry Marten, who was vice provost of Eton College and had the Archbishop of Canterbury as a religion teacher.

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip tied the knot in 1947 when the United Kingdom was still recovering from World War II. The country had rationing measures in place, and not even the future queen was exempt from using ration coupons to pay for items. Elizabeth saved up her own coupons, plus received an extra 200 from the government, to pay for the satin dress studded with crystals and pearls. Hundreds of British subjects tried sending her their own coupons to pay for her big day, but she sent them back; after all, transferring the vouchers would have been illegal.