Queen Elizabeth II has one of the most recognizable faces in the world and it seems like it would almost be an insult to ask Her Royal Majesty for photo identification.
Queen Elizabeth II does not need a passport to travel. Unlike all of the other members of the royal family, including her husband the Duke of Edinburgh, she is exempt. This is because every single British passport is issued in the name of Her Majesty meaning that it would be redundant for her to have to use one.
Scroll down to learn more about the other areas that the Queen of England is exempt from and other strange rules surrounding the Royal Family.
Queen Elizabeth II’s Other Exemptions
As it states on the Royal Family’s website, “As a British passport is issued in the name of Her Majesty, it is unnecessary for The Queen to possess one. All other members of the Royal Family, including The Duke of Edinburgh and The Prince of Wales, have passports.”
However, did you know that there are some laws that regular citizens must follow that the Queen and the rest of the Royal Family are exempt from? For example, civil and criminal proceedings cannot be taken against the Queen; this is known as sovereign law.
What exactly does that mean? Well, it means that Queen Elizabeth II can never be held legally responsible for anything, but she has also been strict in adhering to the law and following it.
On top of that and the passport, there is another form of identification that she doesn’t have or need to have: a driver’s license. In fact, it’s not just a driver’s license that she doesn’t need, she also doesn’t need to have plates on her car.
When it comes to following the speed limit, the Queen, the Prime Minister, and the Royal Family all don’t have to follow traffic laws. However, this is only if they are on official business and being driven by an officer of the law.
There are some even stranger exemptions for Royalty though. One of those being that none of the Royal Family has to use their legal last names.
The entire family didn’t actually have a last name until it was declared by George V in 1917 that all descendants of his line would bear the last name Windsor. Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh decided that they wanted their line to be distinguished from the rest of the family line with the last name Mountbatten-Windsor.
This last name wasn’t used in any official capacity or on a legal document until the marriage of Princess Anne to Captain Mark Phillips at Westminster Abbey on November 14, 1973.
You can watch the below video from In the Know to learn more about the Queen, her role, and some more interesting facts.
Other Strange Rules for British Royals
As someone who isn’t royal, it is fairly weird to think about not having to have a passport to travel, but there are a lot more rules that the royals have to follow. One is that the direct succession line cannot take the same flight.
Why? Because if there were a plane crash, that would be the entire royal succession gone.
That’s why the Queen, Prince Charles, Prince William, and Prince George of Cambridge would never be caught on the same flight. Well, that and the fact that Queen Elizabeth II flies only on chartered flights for her safety.
The Royal Family is exempt from paying taxes and they are also exempt from freedom of information requests. This means that the public can’t find out what the royals use their tax money for.
This is all just the tip of the iceberg too. Many people may be shocked to find out that Queen Elizabeth II technically has full custody of all of her minor grandchildren.
A law was introduced in England in 1717 by King George I named The Grand Opinion for the Prerogative Concerning the Royal Family, which said that the sovereign of the country has full custody rights of any grandchildren not of the age of majority.
This means that if Prince Charles is ever crowned as King of England, he will technically be the legal guardian of Prince Geroge, Princess Charlotte, Prince Louis, and Prince Archie. That’s even though the children’s parents are all alive and well; that’s kind of crazy to think of, isn’t it?
Either way, it is highly unlikely that Prince Charles would ever enact on that power as King, just as his mother has not during her 70-year reign over the United Kingdom.