Elizabeth II has not only the record of the longest British reign (64 years), it also visited 120 countries (out of 196 existing) . On the occasion of its 90th anniversary (today, April 21, 2016), the online travel agency lastminute.com asked Kate Williams , British historian and specialist of the British monarchy, to highlight the newspaper of the traveling Queen.

Elizabeth II, a globe-trotting queen

Since her arrival on the throne of England at 26 years, Queen Elizabeth has achieved the equivalent of 42 rounds of the world . During her reign, she visited an average of 2 countries a year , with a record of 12 countries visited in 6 months , during her trip to the Commonwealth States the year after her coronation. From 1953 to 1997, the Queen elected Yatch Royal Britannia as a floating second home: from South Africa to the Caribbean, she traveled more than 1.6 million kilometers in 44 years.

The Strange Gifts of Queen Elizabeth II

With all these trips, Queen Elizabeth II has experienced many hotels, and be careful not just any since she has always taken care to choose them luxurious, never less than 5 stars. And well beyond the free samples of shower gel and towels embroidered in his name, many gifts (sometimes strange) were handed to him. During a visit to Germany (in 2015), she received a replica of the Brandenburg Gate in almond paste . And surely the most wacky: Brazil offered him in 1968, two lazy . France has baptized in 2014 a flower market on the Ile de la Cité in Paris , in the name of Queen Elizabeth II. A romantic thought for the one who loves flowers, gardens and who visited France 7 times.

At 90, Queen Elizabeth II is still traveling

At extraordinary post, exceptional living conditions. Although Queen Elizabeth II still travels in spite of her great age (although she avoids long journeys by plane in recent years), the Europeans stop them from traveling on average to 79 years: fatigue and daily difficulties often blacken the idyllic image of the retired traveler. The British are among the Europeans who stop traveling early, at around 74 years on average. The Italians , more reckless, would like to travel until the age of 81 years.