Longest Reign

From the G & M:

"The Mathematics of the Monarchy"

 

On Wednesday, Queen Elizabeth II enters the history books as the United Kingdom (and modern Canada’s) longest-reigning monarch. Here are some other important numbers about the Queen’s eventful reign, her wealth and other things you didn’t know

 

89

The Queen’s current age. She was crowned on June 2, 1953 – just over a year after the death of her father, George VI, made her sovereign – when she was only 25. In 2007, she surpassed her great-great-grandmother Victoria (who died at age 81) as Britain’s longest-living monarch – but this week’s milestone also puts her past Victoria’s record reign of 63 years, seven months and two days.

When the Queen became Canada’s sovereign, she inherited a tradition of the Canadian Crown that includes the French as well as British empires. That means there’s one French monarch, officially a Canadian sovereign, who still beats her record: Louis XIV, who reigned for 72 years in the 17th and 18th centuries.

 

11

Prime ministers of Canada who have served during her reign. The current one, Stephen Harper, was born in 1959, making him the first prime minister to have been born in her tenure as Canadian head of state. The Queen has also seen 12 British prime ministers, 12 U.S. presidents and seven popes come and go.

 

1

Monarchs who have served longer than the Queen. Only Thailand’s King Bhumibol Adulyadej, whose rule has lasted 69 years, has reigned longer.

 

 

67 years, nine months and 20 days

Duration of the Queen’s marriage to Prince Philip, as of Wednesday. This also makes her the longest-married monarch in British history – certainly a longer union than those of her four children, three of whom have previously been divorced, including the famous annus horribilis, 1992, when Prince Charles separated from Diana, Princess of Wales.

 

 

£22.8-billion

The estimated value ($46.3-billion) of the British monarchy’s assets, according to analysis by Reuters. This would give the Royal Family one of the world’s Top 20 fortunes – comparable with the wealth of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg – and makes the monarchy wealthier than it has ever been under Queen Elizabeth II’s reign. Estimates of royal wealth are tricky because some of the Queen’s assets are privately owned. Buckingham Palace stresses that the Crown Estate – an independent company that manages royal properties and is the key engine of the monarch’s wealth – does not belong to the Queen. Instead, profit from the Estate and some other assets go to the HM Treasury, which then gives funds to the Queen, known as the Sovereign Grant. The Reuters estimate includes the value of the Crown Estate, the duchies of Lancaster and Cornwall and the Royal Collection, the trove of art and jewellery that includes the Crown Jewels. It does not include the value of royal residences, such as Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle or Balmoral, the royal residence in Scotland.

 

22

Number of times the Queen has visited Canada during her reign, more than any other realm of the Commonwealth (Australia has had 16 visits, New Zealand 10 and Jamaica six). The visits have ranged from the adulatory (such as her 2002 Golden Jubilee visit) to the controversial (in 1964, when she visited Quebec City, riot police’s clashes with pro-separatist protesters devolved into the infamous “Truncheon Saturday”.)

 

 

30+

Corgis the Queen has owned during her reign. Her father, George VI, first introduced the breed to his daughters in 1933 with pet dog Dookie. The future queen got her first corgi, Susan, as a birthday present in 1944, and that dog became the ancestor of a long line of royal pets. The Queen has also had several cocker spaniels, Labradors and “dorgis,” a Dachshund-corgi crossbreed.

^ Queen Elizabeth II has been the only Queen of Canada (and the UK, Australia, etc) that I have ever known. It is a good thing that we have her as the longest reigning monarch since she is also the most beloved and most intelligent that Canada and the other Commonwealth Realms has ever had. Even though most Canadians don't understand what the Monarch actually does in Canada they still love her as a symbol and a person. ^

 

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/queen-by-the-numbers-seven-things-to-know-about-our-longest-reigningmonarch/article26256034/