Infant Queen Takes Throne
51. Mary Queen of Scotland became queen when she was only 6 days old.
52. In the British Army, a goat named William “Billy” Windsor I held the rank of Lance Corporal. Billy was once briefly demoted for “lack of decorum” and “disobeying a direct order” at Queen Elizabeth II’s 80th birthday parade.
53. The modern calendar came from the Egyptians, not Julius Caesar. The Roman calendar followed the moon and had 355 days. Egyptians knew the year was 365 days because the Nile would reach its peak on the same date every year. Caesar learned this through his affair with Cleopatra and made the Julian calendar.
54. Queen Victoria grew up under a very strict set of rules known as the Kensington System. These rules meant she was kept away from most people, was never allowed an hour alone, and had every one of her actions planned in advance.
55. Under the Russian empress Elizaveta, there were literally a fashion police.
56. Although Napoleon divorced Joséphine de Beauharnais so he could produce an heir, his first wife Josephine is an ancestor of five present-day royal houses in Europe. Napoleon is not an ancestor of any.
57. Elizabeth II, the Queen of the United Kingdom, is also queen of Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize, Antigua and Barbuda, and Saint Kitts and Nevis.
58. Queen Elizabeth I gave English theater companies permission to forcibly enlist children as performers. Shakespeare opposed this practice and would not use kidnapped children in his plays.
59. Queen Elizabeth is a fan of Doctor Who.
60. Catherine the Great of Russia had many lovers while she ruled, and she often promoted them to higher ranks for as long as they remained of interest to her. When she lost interest, she retired them with gifts of serfs and large estates.
Rival Reduced To Swine
61. In Han China, Empress Lu Zhi tortured a rival concubine by cutting off her limbs, tongue, and eyes. She then confined her in a latrine to spend the rest of her life as a “Human Swine.”
62. Boudica, a Celtic queen, led a revolt against the Romans in 60 A.D., destroying three cities and killing 80,000 Romans. This was retaliation for Rome annexing her kingdom after her husband died, publicly flogging her, and ordering her daughters raped. Rome required more than 3 legions to defeat her.
63. More than 5.5 million people died in a famine under British rule in India. Around the same time, Lord Robert Bulwer Lytton, the viceroy of India, was taking part in a lavish celebration with over 60,000 guests who were to be fed and provided drinks for Queen Victoria’s coronation as Empress of India.
64. Queen Isabella, who financed Columbus’ voyage, said that she had bathed only twice in her entire life.
65. In 1956, French Prime Minister Guy Mollet suggested a union between the United Kingdom and France, with Elizabeth II serving as head of state and a shared citizenship.
66. In 1947, Australia presented Queen Elizabeth with 500 cases of canned pineapple as a wedding present.
67. John Dee, who served as a courtier and spy for Queen Elizabeth I, used the signature “007” when he sent coded messages to the queen.
68. Catherine the Great, the longest reigning female ruler in Russia, was not actually Russian, and her birth name was Sophie Friederike Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst-Dornburg.
69. The French diplomat and spy Chevalier d’Éon lived publicly as a man for 49 years, once entered the court of Empress Elizabeth of Russia disguised as a woman, and in 1777 started wearing women’s clothing in public and said he was female.
70. Queen Elizabeth II has someone break in her shoes by wearing them before she does so they will be comfortable.
Victorian Rats for Sale
71. In 19th century England, a man named Jack Black was a skilled rat catcher. When he found rats with unusual coloring, he bred them and sold the well bred ones to nobility. Even Queen Victoria kept one or two pet rats.
72. Prior to Coca-Cola, there was Coca Wine, which contained 10 percent alcohol and 8.5 percent cocaine extract by volume, and it was endorsed by Queen Victoria and Pope Leo XIII.
73. Queen Margrethe II of Denmark’s illustrations were used in the Danish edition of “The Lord of the Rings,” and she is also said to have assisted with the book’s Danish translation.
74. Pianist Jan Ladislav Dussek served as court musician to Catherine the Great and Marie Antoinette, had an affair with a princess, and was acquainted with Napoleon and Talleyrand.
75. Queen Victoria was the first British monarch to be photographed.
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