THE QUEEN UNCOVERED 70 fun facts about her reign

We go behind palace walls to discover seven decades of tidbits to delight royal fans

She has sat on the throne for 70 years, but the woman behind Queen Elizabeth II remains a closely guarded secret - or does she?

A colourful collection of stories, reports, anecdotes, and gossip give a fascinating insight into the mostly happy and certainly glorious reign of the 96-year-old monarch.

This year, she is inviting the whole Commonwealth to mark her Platinum Jubilee, so here we roll out our own right royal celebration with 70 fascinating and little-known tidbits about the woman who has served so well as our Queen. From her pink tea set and pepper grinder collection to her TV favourites and pet hates, here's 70 things you probably never knew about Her Majesty:

1 Elizabeth Windsor was not born in a palace or a castle but in a London townhouse. A posh Chinese restaurant called Hakkasan now stands on the prestigious address of 17 Bruton Street, Mayfair.

2 As a child, the Queen's favourite toys included a rocking horse, a pink tea set in the shape of a rabbit, a set of skittles known as Knockemdown Ninepins, and a Parisian doll. The precious playthings are occasionally displayed to the public at Buckingham Palace.

3 She never went to school! The young royal was homeschooled. She studied constitutional history and law to prepare for her future role as Queen, and took lessons in religion from the Archbishop of Canterbury.

4 Her childhood governesses also taught the future monarch how to speak French. "It is a skill which has stood 44 the Queen in good stead, as she often has cause to use it when speaking to ambassadors and heads of state from French-speaking countries, and when visiting French-speaking areas of Canada," states the official royal website.