Queen facts you never knew before yesterday/today

[sborber]

I had no idea she birthed (the now King) Charles via C-section, at home, IN Buckingham Palace... Imagine!

The thing about people sending their ration coupons to Elizabeth to help with her wedding dress, and her getting extra from the government so sending back what she didn't need.

How on earth did she, or anyone, know where to send them back to?

Really not meaning to quibble or be stroppy, but just occurred to me, this was 1947!

If you read Angela Kelly’s book; ‘The other side of the coin’ she says it was purely coincidence and the hat is a slightly different shade IRL than on TV/photos. Afterwards the hat was re-trimmed for another outfit. V thrifty.

My Queen fact is that if you go to Sandringham, one of the cabinets in her drawing room is full of decoy ducks. Not the beautifully painted, highly collectible ones, but the fairly horrible plastic moulded ones that cost a few quid. Apparently they like to buy them for one another for Xmas.

Of course she did, I had forgotten that. She also got into the front of the car with the baby in her arms.

Maybe William was the first heir.

On the coupon front I think people wrote letters with them, it also used to be common to write a return address on envelopes.

A clear pic of a clothing ration book - for mail order you had to send the coupons by registered post so maybe people did that.

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I hadn't worked out that the Princess Elizabeth already had her first two children before she ascended the throne. I always thought of her as a very young woman who hadn't yet started a family.

Nor that the ages of her 1st and 2nd children Charles and Anne, and her 3rd and 4th children Andrew and Edward were close together in age, but there was a 10 year gap between Anne and Andrew.

I wonder if Andrew "just showed up" after 10 years and they thought ah well in for a penny in for a pound and went for Edward to keep Andrew company - by the time Andrew was born, Anne would have seemed ancient to a small child!

In answer to the "how did she know where to send the coupons back to" I don't think that's a mystery. Presumably there was a letter from the person who sent them and when you write a letter you put your address at the top!

How did you not know this?!? It's just a core fact, with so many photos showing her with her young family, not to mention its coverage in The Crown.

It's said it was a deliberate decision to have a gap between having the first two children & later ones.

It's said that she planned it. When she took the thrown, Charles was 3, Anne must only have been about a year, she had a lot of travelling to do visiting all the commonwealth it wasn't the done thing to travel with the children.

She wanted another go at being a mum hence the big gap. Edward was also later in life getting married hence his kids are still teens.

How did you not know this?!? It's just a core fact, with so many photos showing her with her young family, not to mention its coverage in The Crown

you do know The Crown isn’t compulsory viewing? It’s a fictionalised tv show.

most people don’t get their general knowledge facts from tv dramas 😂

Not the queen, but just discovered Prince William is left handed.

She speaks Gaelic.

What - really?
Thats something I've learned from your post never mind the last few days.

Yes me too! Never knew until we saw him sign the proclamation today

I love the fact about the American tourists in Scotland.

DH seemed to find this a fascinating fact this morning as well

According to historian Greg Jenner (former historical advisor to Horrible Histories - who now need to rewrite their Kings & Queens song) we are now Carolingians twitter.com/greg_jenner/status/1567939669752528896?s=21&t=cw6--BE3pb_xMFkMOtqWWg

Also, this is one of my favourite anecdotes about the Queen, from one of her racehorse trainers, Nicky Henderson

I imagine people put their addresses on their Letters it was 1947 they had post trains and what not.

I was shocked when I read that! Morphine and cocaine in time for the midnight print! 😮

Not her father, her grandfather George V. George VI died of lung cancer.

Ah that's right he died after sending her away on a trip.
Imagine though being seen off just to make it for the news the next morning 😯

Her dresses and skirts had lead weights in the hems to stop them blowing up in the wind.

Wow!

They’re curtain weights. Apparently Kate was encouraged to do the same after a few near misses on the Australian tour!

I didn’t realise that she made so many family home movies especially when the eldest children were young and she was still a Princess. Saw a BBC documentary earlier and there’s loads of footage of her looking extremely doting on her young DC and chasing them around the garden. I was always led to believe she was a cold mother who foisted the kids off onto the nanny but there was so much warmth in these videos

My favourite Queen moment! I lie that she giggles at Philip after. They were such a warm and loving couple. I felt like, when he died, you could see her gradually willowing and could see the loneliness in her eyes