Are you ready to party???

I am and after watching some of the Queen’s Jubilee I am even more so!!!  What a great celebration they are having in England and I just wish I was there to revel in it.  There is something mystical about the pomp and circumstance that surrounds the royals—or maybe it is just me.  It works for them—or at least most of the time—and it is with awe that I watched the fabulous huge Thames Flotilla for the Diamond Jubilee for Queen Elizabeth II. What an amazing thing to have been the reigning queen for 60 years. The things she has seen.  Not all good, I am sure, but still—how amazing !

The flotilla boasted a thousand vessels with one million watching!!!   Even the notorious rain of England could not stop the festivities.  The parties continue and will for a few days.

I found out a few facts about the Queen that I thought I would pass along –inquiring minds and all !  So sit back, brew a cup of tea and take a taste of my blackberry scone made in her honor this weekend and amaze your friends with some English trivia.

1. Vogue analyzed what colors she is partial to wearing and here is the breakdown: Yellow 7%, Green, 11%, Blue 29%, Purple 10%, Pink 10%, Red 4%, Orange 4%, Floral 13%, Black 2%, Beige 1%, Cream 10%.
2. Queen Elizabeth II is the only British monarch to have celebrated a diamond wedding anniversary, having been married to Prince Philip since 1947.
3. She is the only person is the United Kingdom who can drive with a license or car registration.
4. She does not have a passport.
5. She was a mechanic and truck driver in the Women’s Auxiliary Territorial Services in WW II.
6. Queen Elizabeth had a huge crush on her future husband, Philip, when she met him at just age 13.
7. Some of the gifts that she has been given over the years include 7 kg of prawns (yum), a tortoise and a bull elephant.  Not sure if she kept those.
8. She stands 5 foot 4 inches.  (Just like me!  Does that mean I could be queen???)
9. She is definitely the hostest with the mostest having served 1.1 million people in garden parties from 1952- 2006.  
10. She lives in Buckingham Palace where there are 775 rooms totaling 77,000 square feet.

There are a lot of great places to read more about the Queen the the Diamond Jubilee!  Check out this NYTimes article  or this article in the Herald Sun where I got many of these little tidbits.  I have to leave you with this picture that a friend posted on Facebook.  I could not find the original source so I hesitated posting it but if anyone knows please tell me so I can give credit where credit is due.   I loved it and it really made me laugh a bit to think that she had scones in her ears…. enjoy your day and raise a cuppa to England and her Queen!