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Animals, vegetable peelers... The most improbable gifts offered to Elizabeth II during her reign

2022-09-09T17:13:06.208Z


In 70 years of reign, Queen Elizabeth II has received a multitude of gifts. From the most classic to the most unexpected.


In 70 years of reign, Queen Elizabeth II has accumulated thousands of gifts.

No matter their usefulness or their aesthetics, impossible for her to refuse anything.

And we can say that some have used cunning ingenuity to find THE most original present, ever offered, see… Totally improbable.

Selected gifts.

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The list reveals great generosity and above all an overflowing imagination on the part of foreign dignitaries.

In 2006, the president of Rwanda offered her a portrait of herself.

So far, nothing subversive.

Except that the said portrait was made from... banana leaves.

In the “hijacked portrait” category, the royal gift from Uzbekistan, a pair of kitsch vases with the portraits of the rulers inlaid, ranks high.

The queen was also offered a specially edited tube subscription card for the 150th anniversary of the

London

subway .

The royal couple also received, in 1947, an automatic potato peeler at their wedding, an extremely sophisticated instrument for the time.

Not sure that Elizabeth used them a lot…

A brass grasshopper and a totem

The range of wacky gifts also included an “ever bigger, always higher” section.

In this case, a totem, a giant sculpture 30 meters high from British Columbia, was delivered to Windsor Castle in 1958. And it was during a visit to France that the Queen is seen offering a second oversized piece: a grasshopper-shaped wine cooler.

A present offered in 1972 by Georges Pompidou, then President of the Republic.

The object had even been designed to turn into a table once the “wings” were unfolded.

Strangely, it was never featured in the decor of Buckingham Palace.

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See the slideshow26 photos

See the slideshow26 photos

President Barack Obama also went there with his gift to the Queen in April 2009. Unlike his French counterpart, the American head of state preferred more "mobile" attention: an iPod.

During a reception at Buckingham Palace - to which the leaders of the G20 were invited - he presented her with the personalized digital player, on which was uploaded a video of the visit that the Queen had made in 2007 to Washington, and in the of Virginia.

Also donated: dozens of exotic animals, a bag of salt from the British Virgin Islands archipelago, 500 cans of pineapple from the Governor of Queensland, 24 pairs of gloves, 131 pairs of stockings.

With approximately 100 official presents per year, over 70 years of reign, the sovereign was able to build up a fine collection of gifts.

The total number of those present is thus estimated at more than 10,000.

Not to mention the tartan pincushion, a raffia hat, a miniature replica of the Brandenburg Gate… In short, not sure if they all appear on his will.

Source: lefigaro

All life articles on 2022-09-09

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