Table of contents
Until recently Queen Elizabeth II’s great-great-grandmother, Queen Victoria, was the longest-reigning monarch the United Kingdom had ever had, ruling for 64 years; she has now been surpassed by Elizabeth II, who lived to be 96 and earned the famous platinum jubilee, thanks to her 70-year reign.
Travel was always very important during her reign, becoming also the monarch who traveled the most in this Royal Family, learning for decades about different cultures. It is said that she visited an average of 120 countries, in a journey of thousands of kilometers; and in many of them she stayed in the most prestigious hotels on the planet.
This journey is like having circumnavigated the world 42 times, of which almost 2 million km and for 44 years he did it on the Royal Yacht Britannia, which served as his floating residence between 1953 and 1997.
On September 8, 2022, the news of his death surprised the whole world, which marked the end of an era during his reign of many family and national events, but always taking into account travel as the work he most enjoyed and devoted time to.
Let’s talk a little about the history of Queen Elizabeth II:
Queen Elizabeth II was born on April 21, 1926 in London. Her parents were the Duke and Duchess of York (Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, Scottish, and Albert Frederick Arthur George, who later became King George VI). She was baptized with the names Elizabeth Alexandra Mary, but in the family she was called Lilibet.
Later, when she was 4 years old, her sister, Princess Margaret, was born, who, although they had some differences, always respected her with great affection. Both received their education thanks to a governess at a private level; reigning at that time George V, who was the grandfather of both.
But by 1936 the King died and took the reign Edward VIII, who was the eldest son and uncle of Lilibet; but that same year he abdicated and it was his younger brother, father of Elizabeth II, who took the reign with the title of George VI; leaving Elizabeth as the future Queen of England according to the succession, and her sister in 2nd place.
By that time Lilibet was about 10 years old, becoming Princess Elizabeth of York. It is from this moment when she began to receive the corresponding training for a future queen; although in the summer vacations she enjoyed her greatest passion, which were horses and dogs.
At the end of World War II she began to participate in both radio and public appearances, to begin her work as a state advisor when her father, George VI, was out of the country; she even made a visit to Italy, when they achieved his freedom.
Then, in 1947 she married her second cousin, Duke Philip of Edinburgh, when she was already 21 years old. From this marriage four children were born: the Prince of Wales, Charles, then Princess Anne, later the Duke of York, Andrew, and finally the Earl of Wessex, Edward, leaving Philip as the Royal Consort.
Marriage that lasted 75 years, being also the longest of the British Crown, until he died in April 2021, also shortly before his 100th birthday. Then, returning to history, King George VI’s health began to decline and he died in February 1952. But the coronation of Elizabeth II took place in June 1953, at the age of 27.
She had the task of continuing what her father had started in relation to decolonizing the old British Empire, making more than 20 countries independent, either unilaterally or simply through well-established pacts. But more than 15 countries kept her as head of state.
These were Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Belize, Barbuda, Antigua, Jamaica, Grenada, the Solomon Islands, St. Kitts, Papua New Guinea, St. Vincent, Nevis, the Grenadines, the Tuvalu Islands in Polynesia, St. Lucia and, of course, the United Kingdom, all joining what is called the Commonwealth of Nations.
During her reign Elizabeth II faced different conflicts worldwide and at home; among them the Cold War, the Falklands, the conflict with Northern Ireland for 30 years, the rejection of the 2014 referendum for Scottish independence and, in 2016, Britain’s exit from the European Union (the Brexit), having participated for 40 years as its member.
We will now mention some records that Queen Elizabeth II obtained in relation to her jubilees. For example, in 1977 the silver jubilee for her 25 years on the throne; in 1992 the ruby jubilee for her 40 years; in 2002 the gold jubilee for her 50 years; then in 2012 the diamond jubilee for her 60 years; in 2017 the sapphire jubilee for her 65 years; and we end in 2022 with the platinum jubilee for her 70 years on the throne.
How many countries did Queen Isabell II of England visit?
She is known as the most traveled sovereign of the United Kingdom, but also as the queen of the million miles; she is calculated 1,032,513 miles (in kilometers 1,661,668) for an average of 120 countries during her entire reign. Visiting both those belonging to the Commonwealth of Nations and outside them; an average of 290 trips since she started, in 1952.
For Elizabeth II travel was a very important part, which she expressed in 1953, already officially queen, in New Zealand in her Christmas speech; expressing that, through these visits, she could know as much as possible of the countries and peoples that make up the Commonwealth and the Empire; thus demonstrating the personal bond with them, and not something that remains in the abstract.
That is why the United Kingdom continues to maintain ties with its former colonies through this Commonwealth; which comes to represent about 1/3 of the entire population of the planet.
His first trip was in February 1952 to Kenya, to meet with the governor Sir Philip Mitchell for health reasons of his father; and where, unfortunately, he received the news of the death of George VI. In 1953 and during 6 months he visited 12 countries of the Commonwealth of Nations, being his longest trip.
The period of greatest movement was between the 1970s and 1980s. For example, in 1979 alone he visited 6 countries in 2 months, touring part of the Middle East. Since his coronation in 1953, an average of 2 trips per year is estimated; more or less 120 countries in total of the 196 that exist; that is, 60% of the planet.
He made some historic trips for the monarchy. Among them in 1986 to China and in 2011. She was also the first to visit the Republic of Ireland, a task that had not been done since a century before. The country she visited the most was Canada: about 25 times. In relation to Europe, she felt a great affinity with Germany and France; and in 1988 she visited Spain.
Her last trip abroad was with Duke Philip of Edinburgh to the island of Malta in 2015. Already in subsequent years she preferred to stay in the United Kingdom; spending Easter at Windsor Castle, summers in Scotland, at Balmoral Palace, and Christmas with her family at the official Sandringham Residence.
What were the means of transportation used by the Queen in her travels?
The means of transportation for the travels of both the Queen and the Royal Family were diverse. Some were on the Royal Train, with its mahogany wood saloons and colonial style. But others were also made by plane, mostly by chartered private jet; although some were on commercial flights, as for example in 1977 when she traveled in the Concorde to the USA.
However, in 1936, when his uncle Edward VIII ruled, the Royal Air Force was created; an elite unit under the name of the King’s Flight. Aircraft that transported the Royal Family for both long and short flights. But, once Elizabeth II took the reign, the name was changed to the Queen’s Flight, and it was transported in elegant aircrafts and helicopters; until 1995 when it ceased to operate.
Although the Queen was using airplanes for quite some time, her preferred means of transportation was always aboard the Royal Yacht Britannia, which has always been equipped with all the comforts as if she were at home. It is said that during 40 years of her service, until 1997, the Britannia made 968 official trips; traveling an average of more than 1,500,000 km.
Currently the yacht is located in Edinburgh, exactly in Leith, where it receives the visit of many tourists annually. As mentioned above, in 2015 he made his last trip by plane to Malta, and after this some of his engagements were made on the Royal Train; an example of this was in 2021, to attend the G7 summit.
It should also be mentioned that when the monarch traveled she always showed off her elegance and glamour. She usually wore 3 changes of clothes for each day, all listed in perfect order and stored in wheeled closets and steel material; of course, the black mourning outfit could not be missing, in case any occasion merited it.
Their lead stylist had to travel weeks in advance to the destination venues to make sure the outfits chosen were the right ones, so they didn’t clash with the locations.
