In the wake of her death, there has been much in the news about the late British sovereign’s reign. Yet, among all the impressive roles she had, there was a woman who was down-to-earth and took pleasure in the simple things in life.
Like many, she had a deep love for her four-legged friends and the great outdoors, but there are other things she enjoyed doing that we can also relate to in our own lives.
She had an American pen pal
Not many of us have pen pals these days, but Elizabeth II had one for 70 years. The monarch received a letter on her birthday in 1953 from Adele Hankey in North Dakota. The two were born on the same day, in the same year. The Queen replied, and the pair continued this annual catch up right up until Elizabeth’s final birthday.
Hankey, now 96, shared that the two had a love of cooking: “The recipes the Queen liked were with marmalade. And so do I. How about that?”
While the two never met, their 70-year correspondence isn’t negligible. When asked by KFYR if she’d miss the Queen, the nonagenarian shared: “Oh, absolutely. You miss your pen pals.”
She loved a pocket!
In most photos of the Queen, if she wasn’t enjoying herself at the racecourse, you’ll see her in a staged pose. However, she did have a dream to sit for a photo in a very particular way that the palace and her mother had disapproved of for years.
In fact, the Queen wanted to pose informally with her hands in her pockets. (And you can’t beat a dress with pockets!) The resulting photo was slightly informal, but her joy at being more of a casual Queen was palpable.