As people across the world celebrate her birthday, the Chinese news agency, Xinhua shares  some 19 fun facts about her legendary life.

1. Dates

-The queen was born at 2:40 am on April 21, 1926 in London.

-Elizabeth was christened Elizabeth Alexandra Mary on May 29, 1926.

-Elizabeth married Phillip, the Duke of Edinburgh on November 20, 1947, three years after they met at a wedding.

-Elizabeth became queen in February 1952 after her father King George VI died, but was crowned more than a year later in June 1953.

-Elizabeth celebrated 50 years of reign in 2002 and 60 years of reign, also known as the Diamond Jubilee, in 2012.

-Elizabeth visited China in 1986, the first British monarch to do so.

2.Passions

-Elizabeth loves animals, especially horses and dogs. She has owned over 30 corgis and bred numerous award winning thoroughbred horses.

-Elizabeth loves to travel, she has visited 115 countries during her 250 overseas visits.

-Elizabeth has visited the United States five times.

-In 1977, to celebrate 25 years of reign, Elizabeth visited 36 counties in the UK, as well as countries including Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea. She and her husband were estimated to have travelled 90,000 km that year.

-Elizabeth’s passion for travel is perhaps helped by her privilege to drive without a drivers license inside the UK and travel internationally without a passport.

3.Politics

-Elizabeth meets with the prime minister once a week for an hour to discuss national affairs.

-Elizabeth has given royal assent to, or passed, more than 3,500 Acts of Parliament after passed by the two houses.

-Both Tony Blair and David Cameron were born after Elizabeth became the queen.

-There have been 12 U.S presidents since she became the queen.

4.Beloved monarch

-Elizabeth receives around 60,000 letters a year.

-For her Diamond Jubilee in 2012, Elizabeth received over 120,000 cards, letters and gifts.

-Elizabeth has answered 3.5 million items of correspondence.

-Over 4,000 street and village parties were organized to celebrate Elizabeth’s 25 year of reign.