The Queen had a long and full life during which she indulged many passions despite her busy life as the UK’s monarch.
Here then are some of things and places loved by the Queen during the last 96 years…
ANIMALS
The Queen was a great animal lover.
She actually owned a wide variety of creatures including an elephant, two giant turtles, a jaguar and a pair of sloths. The Queen was often gifted animals by foreign countries and housed them in London Zoo in Regents Park.
However she was known mainly for her love of dogs and horses .Here’s more about these two great loves of her life:
Corgis
The Queen was a massive dog lover, but she loved one particular breed especially: the Corgi.
The name Corgi means ‘little coat’ because they have short hair and are often mistaken for poodles.
They were originally bred to be companions to children, but today they are also popular with adults as pets.

The Queen’s first Corgi was called Susan who she received on her 18th birthday. All 30 of her Corgis since then were descendants of Susan.
There was some concern about the current Corgis’ fate after her death, but thankfully they will be given a home by Prince Andrew on his estate.
Horses
The other key animal in the Queen’s life was the horse.
She was an accomplished horsewoman and rode side saddle on many public occasions. In particular she attended the Trooping of the Colour ceremony, the traditional annual presentation of the British Army to the monarch, on horseback.
She was also a well respected race horse owner and breeder.
Her horses, many of them bred at her stud on the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, won nearly 2,000 races in the Queen’s colours of blue and red sleeves.
Only the Epsom Derby out of the British Classic Races eluded her.
FOOD & DRINK
Earl Grey Tea

The Queen welcomed each new day with the traditional tea blend, ‘Earl Grey’.
This is black tea flavoured with the oil of begamot.
Her preferred brand was from upmarket department store Fortnum & Mason.
Daily Gin and Dubonnet
Until illness stopped her habit, the Queen loved a glass of this cocktail before lunch as an appetite stimulator.
Gin is a commonly drunk spirit – especially with tonic water – but Dubonnet is less well known.
It’s a sweet blend of fortified wine, herbs, and spices which contrasts with the Juniper taste of gin.
Venison Burgers
Like many of us, the Queen loved a good juicy burger.
However, the burgers made for her were a little more classy than a Big Mac: she loved venison minced with cranberries in hers.
Not something to be found in the local MacDonald’s…
TRANSPORT
The Royal Train
When travelling the length and breadth of the UK, the Queen often travelled by train.
Indeed she had her own, the Royal Train, which could whisk her to wherever her royal duties took her, in more style and comfort than car or plane.
The train was several carriages long, and carried much of the royal household. Indeed the Queen is known to have loved working in her small office in the main carriage as she travelled.
The Royal Yacht Britannia

For most of her reign the Queen had the use of the Royal Yacht Britannia. It came to the end of its life in 1997 and is now moored permanently in Edinburgh.
Although, of course, a nice luxury, the Yacht had a more serious role, playing host to hundreds of foreign dignitaries and promoted British goods abroad.
There’s serious talk of building a new Royal Yacht, this time called ‘Queen Elizabeth’.
PLACES
The Queen had many favourite places around the UK.
However it was in her various houses, palaces and castles in which she felt the most at home. Her Norfolk estate of Sandringham contained her racing horse stud which too up much of her time.
And Windsor Castle – which she much preferred to the stuffy, Buckingham Palace – was her real home for much of the year, and close to her Grandchildren’s school at Eton.
However it was her summer home for which she had the most affection:
Balmoral Castle
Summers were traditionally held in Balmoral during Elizabeth’s reign.
It was here that she indulged a love of the outdoors and family – who were frequent visitors.
The castle, unlike most of the other UK Palaces, was owned by the Queen herself personally, rather being part of the Crown.
She had inherited it from her father and it was this link to family that drove much of her love for the estate.

Perhaps the other was solitude. The huge Balmoral Estate was perhaps one of the few places in the world that she could roam relatively unmolested.
(Although there is lovely story of the royal couple bumping into some tourists whilst on a hike.
‘Have you ever seen the Queen around here?’ they asked.
’No, but he has’ said a smiling Queen pointing to her husband.)
It was perhaps fitting that it was at Balmoral that the Queen’s reign came to an end – she died peacefully there surrounded by much of her family.