Jolly Good British Royal Trivia

British Trivia: How Much Do You Know?

1. The Longest-Reigning Sovereign in British history was Queen Victoria (1837-1901), pictured at right. She reigned for just over 63 years.

2. The Shortest-Reigning Sovereign in British history was Lady Jane Grey (1537 - 1554). She ruled for only nine days and was executed in 1554 at the age of seventeen.

3. Keep Calm and Carry On was a poster produced by the British government in 1939 during the beginning of the Second World War to raise the morale of the British public in the event of invasion. The poster was rediscovered in 2000. There are only two known surviving examples of the poster outside of government archives.

4. William and Kate's wedding day Friday will be a bank holiday in Britain. The nation gets a day off from work.

5. Queen Elizabeth II, born in 1926, is the oldest royal ruler. 

6. The late Queen Mother and widow of King George VI (The King's Speech) was the oldest member of the Royal family. She died in 2002, at the age of 101.

7. The Oldest Royal to come to the Throne in Britain was the Duke of St. Andrews, who became King William IV at the age of 64 in 1830.

8. The Youngest Royal to come to the Throne anywhere in the British Isles was Mary, Queen of Scots (1542 - 1587), who became reigning Queen of Scotland at the age of just six days old, following the sudden death of her father, King James V.

9. Princess Beatrice and Eugenie are the daughters of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson.

10. Two of Henry VIII wives were beheaded: Anne Boleyn (right) and Katherine Howard.

11. At a royal wedding, the groomsmen are known as "supporters."

12. The Biggest Royal Divorce Settlement was granted in 1540 to Anne of Cleves (1515-1557) fourth wife of King Henry VIII.


13. Balmoral (left) is the name of the Queen's home in Scotland.

14.  Kate Middleton will become an HRH— Her Royal Highness.

15. Richard the Lionheart (1189-1199) spent the least amount of time in in England. He was either on Crusade to the Holy Land or fighting to protect English colonial interests in France.

16. Catherine (Kate) Middleton will one day become England's sixth Queen Catherine. The others were Catherine of Valois, Catherine of Aragon, Katherine Howard, Katherine Parr and Catherine of Braganza.

17. The first televised royal wedding was when Princess Margaret, younger sister of Queen Elizabeth II, married Antony Armstrong-Jones on May 6, 1960. 20 million viewers tuned in. Their wedding photo is at left.

18. Royals don't use last names.

19. There is some debate over who was the youngest member of the Royal Family to be executed, but historians believe it was probably Queen Catherine Howard (?1525 - 1542), fifth wife of King Henry VIII.

20. There is no rule that says the king has to marry someone royal. King Henry VIII who was married six times, chose four commoners as his brides.

21. The king cannot marry a Catholic, specified under the 1701 Act of Settlement.

22. Eight is the preferred number of bridesmaids at royal weddings. Pippa Middleton (right) will be her sister's Maid of Honor.

23. The last foreign princess to marry into the British royal family was Princess Marina of Greece, who died in 1968.

24. Prince William and Kate Middleton met at St. Andrews University in Scotland.

25. The wife of the British king automatically becomes the queen.

26. The tallest British monarch was King Edward I, who ruled from 1272 to 1307 and who stood at 6ft 3in in height.

27. When Prince Charles married Camilla Parker Bowles in 2005, the palace ruled that she would be known as the Duchess of Cornwall, rather than Princess of Wales.

28. Windsor has been the surname of the monarchy since 1917. Before that it was The House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. 

29. Queen Elizabeth R was the daughter of Henry VIII and Ann Boleyn. 

30. King Edward VIII abdicated the Crown to marry Wallace Simpson, above left.

31. Queen Victoria was married to Prince Albert. When he died she went into deep mourning and wore black for the rest of her life.

32. When Prince Albert Victor died in 1892, his younger brother George inherited both his place in the succession and his fiancee, Princess Mary of Teck. The couple went on to become King George V and Queen Mary, the grandparents of Queen Elizabeth II.

33. Prince Harry's on/off girlfriend is Chelsy Davy from South Africa, pictured above right. 

34. The oldest grandchild of Queen Elizabeth II is Peter Phillips, the son of Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips.

35. The designer of Kate Middleton's wedding gown is......I wish I knew!!

I'll be watching the Royal Wedding early Friday morning eating homemade scones that will be the subject of tomorrow's post.