Ten Facts You May Not Know About the Monarchy

1. The official residence of the British monarch is St. James's Palace, though no sovereign has lived there in over 200 years. It is the most senior royal palace in the United Kingdom, having been built in 1536 by Henry VIII, and therefore gives its name to the the royal court - the Court of St. James. Ambassadors and high commissioners are still accredited to the Court.

2. Buckingham Palace has been the official London residence of the monarch since 1837, and is the administrative headquarters of the monarchy.

3. The monarchy can trace its roots over a thousand years back to the kingdoms of Anglo-Saxon England and early Scotland.

4. Richard II of England is the only king to have been married and buried at Westminster Abbey.

5. It is illegal to call, in print, for the abolition of the monarchy and the punishment is life imprisonment. The law dates back to 1848, and also makes it a crime to "imagine" overthrowing the Crown or waging war against it, but the law has not been enforced since 1879.

6. By tradition, monarch's are forbidden to enter the House of Commons at the Palace of Westminster. Charles I did so in 1642 to unsuccessfully arrest five of its members for treason, which led the First English Civil War. George VI briefly visited the Commons in 1950 to view the reconstruction work that had taken place following the Nazi bombings during World War II.

7.  The British monarch is also reigns over the Channel Islands as the Duke of Normandy, since the islands - which are off the coast of France - are the remains of the Duchy of Normandy and are not part of the United Kingdom. Along with the Isle of Man, they are known as Crown Dependencies.

8.  Edward VIII is the only monarch to have voluntarily abdicated the throne.

9.  The monarchy is the oldest-functioning political institution in Europe.

10. In the United Kingdom, the full title and style of the reigning monarch is:

Her Majesty Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and of Her other Realms and Territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith.