History’s queens were far more than royal figureheads. From fearless warriors and brilliant rulers to controversial personalities and influential reformers, these 100 fascinating facts reveal the extraordinary lives, surprising decisions, and lasting legacies of some of the world’s most powerful women.
Cleopatra’s Milk Bath Legend
1. Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, is said to have bathed in donkey milk to keep the beauty and youth of her skin. According to legend, at least 700 donkeys were needed to supply the amount of milk required for her daily bath.
2. Queen Elizabeth II had two mentally disabled cousins named Nerissa and Katherine Bowes-Lyon who were institutionalized for more than 40 years. Their family never visited them, never sent birthday or Christmas gifts or cards, gave the public false dates of death before they died, and did not attend the elder daughter’s funeral.
3. In 1999, one of Queen Elizabeth’s royal footmen was demoted from Buckingham Palace for his party trick of pouring booze into the corgis’ food and water and watching them stagger about with relish.
4. Mary Stewart, Queen of Scots, created the surname Stuart so the French would pronounce her name properly, since they tend to say “w” as “v”.
5. Pharaoh Hatshepsut presented herself as a man, ruled longer than any other woman, and was among the most successful pharaohs of Egypt.
6. The book of Proverbs, which includes many sayings against adultery, was authored by King Solomon, who had 700 wives, 300 concubines, and an affair with the Queen of Sheba.
7. After Peter the Great discovered that his wife had a lover, he ordered the man beheaded, then made her keep her lover’s head in a jar of alcohol in her bedroom, where it remained in Catherine’s bedroom until Peter’s death.
8. In 2011, a Muslim man disrupted a music concert by Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands and asked her to convert to Islam. Some of the musicians left the stage.
9. Razia Sultana was the first and only female ruler of the Delhi Sultanate. She wore men’s clothing and held court in open durbar.
10. Alexander Graham Bell made a social blunder when he accidentally touched Queen Victoria’s hand while demonstrating the telephone to her. People in the audience gasped in horror, but the Queen only said how impressed she was with the telephone.
Child Mozart Meets Royalty
11. At age 7, W.A. Mozart was performing a concert before royalty in Vienna. After he fell, Marie Antoinette helped him get back up, and he instantly asked to marry her.
12. Marie Antoinette’s final words were, “Pardon me, sir. I meant not to do it”. She was apologizing to the executioner because she had accidentally stepped on his foot while going to the guillotine.
13. The scroll on Britain’s highest military honor, the Victoria Cross, was first proposed to read “FOR THE BRAVE,” but Queen Victoria changed it to “FOR VALOUR” because the original wording suggested that not every soldier was brave.
14. The Emperor and Empress of Japan travel in a specially made Toyota Century Royal.
15. Over the course of her reign, Queen Elizabeth has owned more than 30 Corgis.
16. At the beheading of Mary, Queen of Scots, she had a small dog hidden beneath her skirts, and the spectators did not know it was there.
17. Beneath the surface of Egyptian Queen Nefertiti’s bust is a sculpture showing an older and more wrinkled Nefertiti.
18. Queen Elizabeth II was once unintentionally filmed while arguing with Prince Philip as she threw tennis shoes and a racquet at him. The Australian film crew, with mild encouragement, destroyed the footage out of respect.
19. In 1533, when Catherine de’ Medici became queen of France, she liked spinach so much that she demanded it be served with every meal. Even now, spinach-based dishes are called “Florentine,” which reflects Catherine’s birth in Florence.
20. In 1982, a man named Michael Fagan succeeded in breaking into Buckingham Palace, ate cheese, drank wine, then left and came back on another day for a bedside conversation with Queen Elizabeth II.
Queens Lovers Faced Death
21. Nzinga Mbande, who ruled Angola in the 17th century, kept a harem of men who had to defeat others to be with her and were executed after spending a night with her.
22. Cleopatra was 18 years old when she married her 10 year old brother, Ptolemy XIII Theos Philopator, to serve as Egypt’s co ruler.
23. In July 1878, William McGonagall traveled on foot from Dundee to Balmoral, covering roughly 60 miles (97 km) across hilly ground and through a severe thunderstorm so he could perform for Queen Victoria. When he got there, he introduced himself as “The Queen’s Poet”. The guards told him, “You’re not the Queen’s poet! Tennyson is the Queen’s poet!” (Alfred Lord Tennyson was the poet laureate). McGonagall showed the letter, but he was turned away and had to go back home.
24. Although the tale says Cleopatra ended her life by allowing an asp to bite her, she most likely died by taking a combination of opium and hemlock.
25. Before a state visit from Romanian President Nicolae Ceausescu, Elizabeth II had the Buckingham Palace guest rooms emptied of valuables because she feared they might be stolen. She later said the visit was the worst three days of her life.
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