Queen Elizabeth II Has Been To Way More Than Countries Than You

Thursday, May 3, 2012

What are the odds you’ve been to more countries than Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II (or as I like to call her, sugar mama)? The answer: zilch. Turns out, since the Queen assumed power some time around the dawn of the Neolithic Era, she’s been to over 116 countries. Given that she became Queen in 1952, that averages out to only about two a year (doesn’t sound as impressive when you put it that way). In fact, Elizabeth ascended to the throne when she wasn’t even in England at the time (she and her hubby Prince Philip were off galavanting in Kenya when her father passed away).

However, this easily makes her the most traveled British monarch in history. (It helps when your main mode of international travel is plane rather than boat as it was with her predecessors.)

If you’re interested to see how you match up, the BBC has this handy tool that allows you to see how many of the 116 countries you’ve also visited. Extra points if you’ve been to either the Cocos Islands (she was there in 1954), Gambia (1961) or Tuvalu (1982).