12 extraordinary facts you didn’t know about the Queen

With Queen Elizabeth II's death on September 8, at 96 years old, was a huge shift for the British monarchy and the people of England. Queens and kings have passed before, but Elizabeth represented stability and ruled for more than 70 years, holding the institution of the Royal Family together as it gradually developed and became anachronistic. Obviously, her death has spurred numerous struggles to put her authority in the suitable historical context. So, here are 10 things you probably did not know about Queen Elizabeth II.

1. Elizabeth was the longest reigning British monarch, having ruled for 70 years and 214 days. In Europe, ahead of her is Louis XIV of France at 72 years and 110 days. Moreover, Johann II of Liechtenstein ruled for 70 years and 91 days - so there were a few monarchs ruling for 7 decades.

2. During her reign, there were 15 British prime ministers and 14 American presidents. She met all of them in person.

3. When she dies, aproximately 9 out of 10 people knew about her but not about other monarch in British history.

4. In 7 decades of ruling, Elizabeth traveled over 1 million miles - that's almost 40 journeys around the globe, which makes her effortlessly the monarch who traveled the most in the entire British chronology.

5. No one really knows how weathy was the Queen. Altough Forbes estimated the value of the Royal Family at $28 billion, New York Times shows that not all of that belongs to the Windsors. For example, the earnings rendered by the real estate holdings go to the government, with a pay return to the Royal Family. What's more, Fortune thinks that the Queen's wealth values around $500 million. This profit is now inherited by King Charles.

6. The Crown Jewels contain the largest diamond ever found - the Cullinan - now cut into 9 separate diamonds. The largest of the rocks is set inside the monarch's Scepter With Cross, used at coronations and other significant events. The Royal Family says the Cullinan was gifted by the Transvaal Republic in 1907 - a British colony. However, South African township leaders have declared it was stolen and requested its recovery.

7. In 1953, Queen Elizabeth's coronation was the first major royal event to be completely publicized on TV.

8. Elizabeth was the first female British monarch to serve in the military, at 19 years old, where she drove and worked on a range of military vehicles during World War II, including ambulances.

9. As head of state, Elizabeth visited over 100 countries during her reign and had around 21,000 engagements, hosting more than 100 heads of states from different countries. Among these presidents and monarchs are Japan's emperor Hirohito and Donald Trump. During this time, she had also almost 200 garden parties at the Buckingham Palace.

10. Elizabeth secretly vetted over 1,000 articles of legislation before they came before Parliament. Because of these controversial administrations, the Royal Family are exempted from laws that prevent race and sex discrimination.

11. Queen Elizabeth had more than 30 corgi dogs during her lifetime. The first dog she had was Dookie, in 1933.

12.According to the Guardian, Britain has been preparing for the Queen’s death since the 1960s. In 2017, it was the same Guardian that revealed the Operation London Bridge. This article was accessed 8,000 times per minute when the Queen died.