As you have surely figured out by now, we are unashamedly fans and admirers of Her Majesty the Queen, and love knowing about all things “Royal”. We are assuming there are some of you who visit us here at Two Chums who just might feel the same. So we can’t help ourselves this week as we celebrate this most happy and extraordinary week for the subjects of the Queen who live all over the globe , Jackie being one of them as a Canadian citizen. Monday we shared some facts about the Queen but today here are some more fun facts ….or savvy secrets about Queen Elizabeth you may not know….including the recipe for the Christmas Pudding she gives as gifts every year….jolly good:)
1. She doesn’t have a passport.
Despite being history’s most widely traveled head of state—she has reportedly visited 116 countries during her 60-year reign—Elizabeth does not hold a passport. Since all British passports are issued in the queen’s name, she herself doesn’t need one. She also doesn’t require a driver’s license, though she has been known to take joyrides around her various estates in her Range Rover.
2. She has two different birthdays.
The reigning British monarch was born Elizabeth Alexandra Mary of York on April 21, 1926. However, each Commonwealth country traditionally celebrates her birthday on a designated day in May or June. In the United Kingdom, for instance, it falls on the first, second or third Saturday in June. Britain has officially marked its sovereign’s birthday since 1748, when the event was merged with the annual “Trooping the Colour” ceremony and parade. Elizabeth spends her real birthday enjoying private festivities with her family. Her actual birthday is April 21.
3. She drove a truck during World War II.
After months of begging her father to let his heir pitch in, Elizabeth—then an 18-year-old princess—joined the Women’s Auxiliary Territorial Service during World War II. Known as Second Subaltern Elizabeth Windsor, she donned a pair of coveralls and trained in London as a mechanic and military truck driver. The queen remains the only female member of the royal family to have entered the armed forces and is the only living head of state who served in World War II.
4. She paid for her wedding dress with ration coupons.
Princess Elizabeth married her third cousin Philip Mountbatten, formerly prince of Greece and Denmark, on November 20, 1947. Held during the postwar recovery years, their wedding was a relatively understated affair, at least compared to the lavish union of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer in July 1981. With austerity measures still in effect, Elizabeth had to save up ration coupons to purchase the material for her wedding dress, an ivory satin gown designed by Norman Hartnell and encrusted with 10,000 white pearls. British citizens who appreciated her austerity sent her their coupons in an efforts to “help out”. But as it was illegal to use other people’s war coupons she returned them with a note of thanks for their willingness to help and their love and support of her.
5. She didn’t take her husband’s name.
Elizabeth’s father, George VI, was born into the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, but during World War I the family name was changed to Windsor amid anti-German sentiment. Similarly, her husband Prince Philip dropped his father’s Germanic surname, Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, and adopted that of his maternal grandparents, Mountbatten, during their engagement. But when Elizabeth ascended the throne, her mother and Prime Minister Winston Churchill did everything in their power to prevent the queen and her line from becoming the House of Mountbatten. They succeeded, but several years later Elizabeth proclaimed that some of her descendantswould carry the name Mountbatten-Windsor—probably in an attempt to placate her fuming husband.
6. She sent an email in 1976.
On March 26, 1976, Queen Elizabeth sent her first email while taking part in a network technology demonstration at the Royal Signals and Radar Establishment, a research facility in Malvern, England. The message was transmitted over ARPANET, the forerunner of the modern Internet. She is considered the first head of state to have used electronic mail.
7. She was shot at by a teenager.
During her birthday celebration on June 13, 1981, shots rang out as Elizabeth rode her horse in a parade near Buckingham Palace. Marcus Sarjeant, a 17-year-old who idolized the assassins of John F. Kennedy and John Lennon, had fired six blank shotsin the queen’s direction. Swiftly subdued by police, the teen would spend three years in a psychiatric prison. Elizabeth, meanwhile, merely calmed her startled horse and resumed her procession. Like Winston Churchill, whom she loved and admired greatly, she kept to the very English way and proceeded to “Keep Calm and Carry On”.
8. She once woke up to find a stalker in her bedroom.
On July 9, 1982, a 31-year-old psychiatric patient named Michael fa*gan scaled a Buckingham Palace drainpipe and sauntered into Elizabeth’s chambers. The sleeping monarch awoke to find a strange man perched on the edge of her bed, dripping blood from where he had cut his hand while wandering the palace’s dark corridors. Initially unable to reach the police, Elizabeth engaged fa*gan in conversation for at least 10 minutes, listening to him chat about his personal problems and relationship with his fourchildren. Finally, a footman roused from his slumber, seized the loquacious intruder. It turned out that fa*gan, who was ordered to spend six months in a mental hospital, had also crept into the royal residence weeks earlier, making off with a bottle of Prince Charles’ white wine.
9. The Queen has 9 Royal Thrones
One throne is at the House of Lords, two at Westminster Abbey and six in the throne room at Buckingham Palace.
10. The Royal Standard only flies when the Queen is “at home”.
The Royal Standard of the United Kingdom is flown when the Queen is in residence at one of the royal abodes. It may be flown on any building, official or private, during a visit by the Queen, if the owner or proprietor so requests. The Royal Standard was flown aboard the royal yacht, Britannia, when it was in service and the Queen was on board. The only church that may fly a Royal Standard, even without the presence of the Sovereign, isWestminster Abbey. Other churches generally are not allowed to hoist a Royal Standard.
And now….
Queen Elizabeth II’s Christmas Pudding
Recipe courtesy of Peter Morgan-Jones
Adapted from Not Quite Nigella (http://www.notquitenigella.com/2011/04/28/a-royal-wedding-special-queen-elizabeth-iis-own-pudding-recipe/)
Makes 2-4 puddings depending on the size of your pudding basin. This made two 1 liter or 4 ¼ cup puddings
½ lb. currants
¾ lb. seedless raisins
¼ lb. chopped candied mixed peel
¾ lb. sultanas
¼ lb. chopped glace cherries
1/3 lb. blanched slivered almonds
1 tart cooking apple, peeled, cored, chop coarsely
1 carrot, peeled and chopped finely
5 teaspoon grated orange rind
2 teaspoon lemon rind
½ lb. beef suet (order from local butcher),chopped finely -1/2 lb.
¾ cup fresh white breadcrumbs
1 1/3 cups plain flour
1 1/3 brown sugar
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon nutmeg grated
4 tblsp brandy
1 teaspoon mixed spice
4 tblsp fresh orange juice
½ cup stout (dark Ale)
6 eggs
3 tblsp lemon juice
butter for greasing the pudding basin
1. Place the dry fruit and cherries and rind in the biggest bowl you can find, with the apple and carrot and almonds. Add the beef suet and mix together. Stir in flour, breadcrumbs, salt, mixed spice and cinnamon and brown sugar.
2. Whisk the eggs until frothy. Add the ale, brandy, orange and lemon juice.Knead mixture togethervigorouslyuntil well blended, spoon into four approximately 3 cuppudding basins, cover with buttered greaseproof circle, and make sure pudding is not to the top of rim.
3. Cover pudding with aluminium foil and put a side plate on top to make a seal. Steam the pudding for 8 hours. When cool, place plastic lid on pudding, or use Saran Wrap or cover with a tea towel and tie around pudding basin.Can be stored for up to 12 months.
To reheat, steam for 2 hours or place in the microwave (remove foil from top if using foil).
If you’re not really into Christmas Pudding and you are looking for a traditional English dessert, you can always try English Trifle. No matter what else you do, celebrate this week…celebrate love, joy and abundant living.
Cheers!
