Queen Elizabeth II used to set records, as she toured the world 42 times and her reign over the British throne reached 70 years.

As the British prepare to celebrate the platinum jubilee of her accession to the throne, the report shows some of the records in the life of Queen Elizabeth II.

longevity

Elizabeth has been on the British throne for 70 years and 4 months.

The previous record in the United Kingdom was held by her great-grandmother, Queen Victoria, whose reign lasted 63 years, 7 months and 2 days (from June 20, 1837 until her death on January 22, 1901).

Also, at 96 years old, she is the oldest queen still sitting on the throne in the world.

Only two monarchs recorded a reign longer than Elizabeth II, King Louis XIV who ruled for more than 72 years between 1643 and 1715, and King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand (who ruled for 70 years and 4 months, from 9 June 1946 to 13 October). October 2016).

travel

As queen, Elizabeth has visited more than 100 countries, another record for a British monarch.

She made more than 150 visits to Commonwealth countries, as she visited Canada 22 times, which is the most visited member country of the Commonwealth, while she went 13 times to France, which speaks its language and represents the most visited European country.

According to the calculations of the "Daily Telegraph" newspaper, the Queen toured the world an average of 42 times before she stopped traveling abroad in November 2015 when she was 89 years old.

Her longest trip outside the United Kingdom took 168 days between November 1953 and May 1954), during which she visited 13 countries.

preoccupations

On her 21st birthday, when she was a princess, Elizabeth II said, "I declare before you that all my life, long or short, I will dedicate to your service."

During her reign, Elizabeth made about 21,000 official commitments, gave "royal approval" to about 4,000 bills, and received a large number of dignitaries in the framework of 112 official visits, including Emperor Haile Selassie (Ethiopia in 1954) and Japanese Emperor Hirohito ( in 1971) and Polish President Lech Walesa (in 1991) and his US counterpart Barack Obama (in 2011).

Under her supervision, more than 180 receptions were held at Buckingham Palace, attended by more than 1.5 million people.


14 Prime Minister

Elizabeth lived with 14 prime ministers, from Winston Churchill (1952-1955) to Boris Johnson, and prime ministers briefed her during weekly sessions on the most prominent developments of the current period.

The Queen has met 13 of the 14 American presidents, from Harry Truman (1945-1953) to today's Joe Biden.

The president missing from the list is Lyndon Johnson (1963-1969).

Elizabeth, who is the head of the Anglican Church and is known for her piety and regular practice of religious duties, met 4 popes during state visits: John XXIII (1961), John Paul II (1980-2000), Benedict XVI (2010) and Pope Francesco (2014). .

Million greeting cards

The Queen sent about 300,000 greeting cards to centenarians and more than 900,000 to couples celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary.

Her marriage to Prince Philip lasted 73 years before his death in April 2021, which also represents a record for a British monarch.

More than 200 portraits were taken of Elizabeth II, her first being at the age of seven.

sometimes pioneering

Elizabeth was the first British monarch to visit China in 1996, and the first British monarch to address the US House of Representatives on May 16, 1991.

She sent her first e-mail on March 26, 1976, during a visit to a research center of the Ministry of Defense.

In 1997, she launched the first official Buckingham Palace website.

She wrote her first tweet on Twitter in 2014, and her first post on Instagram was in 2019.

And Elizabeth is the only queen who (almost) parachuted with James Bond, as she appeared in a video clip completed for the opening of the 2012 Olympics in London, and she receives the spy, played by the actor Daniel Craig, at Buckingham Palace before they both ride a raft and soar in the sky of London and then jump (in A representative scene) above the Olympic stadium, which witnessed the actual presence of the Queen, was very welcome.