1. The Queen is the fifth longest serving British monarch. (She becomes the fourth longest serving monarch on the 21st June, 2002). Only four other kings and queens in British history have reigned for 50 years or more. These are:
Victoria (63 years)
George III (59 years)
Henry III (56 years)
Edward III (50 years)

2. Queen Elizabeth II is the 40th monarch since William the Conqueror obtained the crown of England.

3. Since 1952, The Queen has conferred 380,630 honours and awards.

4. The Queen has personally held 459 Investitures.

5. The first Investiture of the Queen's reign took place at Buckingham Palace on 27th February 1952. The first person to be presented was Private William Speakman, of The King's Own Scottish Borderers, who received the Victoria Cross for his actions during the Korean War.

6. The Queen has received around 3 million items of correspondence.

7. Over the course of the reign, well over a million people have attended garden parties at Buckingham Palace or the Palace of Holyroodhouse (The Queen ended Presentation Parties in 1958).

8. Since 1952, The Queen has given Royal Assent to 3135 Acts of Parliament.

9. Over the reign, Her Majesty has given regular Tuesday evening audiences to 10 Prime Ministers. They are:
Sir Winston Churchill 1951-55
Sir Anthony Eden 1955-57
Harold Macmillan 1957-63
Sir Alec Douglas-Home 1963-64
Harold Wilson 1964-70 and 1974-76
Edward Heath 1970-74
James Callaghan 1976-79
Margaret Thatcher 1979-90
John Major 1990-97
Tony Blair 1997-present

10. Tony Blair is the first Prime Minister to have been born during The Queen's reign. He was born in early May, 1953 - a month before the Coronation.

11. The Queen is currently patron of 620 charities and organisations, 433 of which she has held since 1952.

12. In 50 years, The Queen has undertaken 251 official overseas visits to 128 different countries.

13. Many of The Queen's official tours were undertaken on the Royal Yacht Britannia. It was launched by Her Majesty on April 16, 1953 and was commissioned for service on January 7, 1954. It was de-commissioned in December, 1997. During this time, Britannia travelled more than a million miles on Royal and official duties.

14. The Royal Yacht Britannia was first used by The Queen when she embarked with the Duke of Edinburgh on the 1st May 1954 at Tobruk for the final stage of their Commonwealth Tour returning to the Pool of London. The last time The Queen was on board Britannia for an official visit was on the 9th August 1997 for a visit to Arran.

15. By the end of 2002, The Queen will have visited Australia 14 times, Canada 20 times, Jamaica 6 times and New Zealand 10 times.

16. The Queen's official visits have ranged from the Cocos Islands, 5.4 square miles with a population of 655, to The Peoples' Republic of China, 3.7 million square miles with a population of 1.25 billion.

17. Unusual live gifts given to The Queen on foreign tours include: two tortoises given to The Queen in the Seychelles in 1972; a seven-year-old bull elephant called "Jumbo" given to Her Majesty by the President of Cameroon in 1972 to mark The Queen's Silver Wedding, and a canary given to The Queen after the State visit to Germany in 1965.

18. The Queen has sent almost 100,000 telegrams to centenarians in the UK and the Commonwealth.

19. The Queen has sent more than 280,000 telegrams to couples in the UK and the Commonwealth celebrating their diamond wedding (60 years) anniversary.

20. The Queen's real birthday is on April 21, but it is celebrated officially in June.

21. The Queen has attended 31 Royal Variety performances.

22. The Queen has given 88 State banquets during her reign.

23. The Queen has launched 17 ships during her reign.

24. The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh have sent about 37,500 Christmas cards during The Queen's reign.

25. The Queen has given out about 75,000 Christmas puddings to staff continuing the custom of King George V and King George VI.

Check out the other 25 more fascinating facts about the Queen