A rose, a reservoir and a telescope are only some of the many quirky places and objects called Elizabeth II after The Queen, finds Carla Passino.
Much has been named after The Queen in the 70 years of her reign, from military honours to horse races, parks, hospitals and TfL’s under-construction Elizabeth Line. Some of the places and objects that bear her name, however, are rather more unusual. Here are some of our favourites:
A flower market: the Marché aux fleurs Reine Elizabeth II in Paris, France
A power station: the Queen Elizabeth Power Station in the (aptly named) town of Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada (itself named after Queen Victoria)
Not one, but two Australian look-out points: Queen Elizabeth Lookout at Kingston, Norfolk Island, and Queen Elizabeth Lookout at Echo Point, Katoomba, New South Wales
A steam locomotive: the London Midland & Scottish Railway Princess Royal Class No 6201 Princess Elizabeth (affectionately known as ‘Lizzie’)
The LMS 4-6-2 Princess Royal Class, Princess Elizabeth 6201 steam train also known as Lizzie on the Settle to Carlisle line in the Yorkshire Dales.
Two Antarctic territories: Britain’s Queen Elizabeth’s Land and Australia’s Princess Elizabeth Land (which is home to one of the world’s coldest places, the Vostok Research Station)
A graving dock: as well as numerous piers and quays, The Queen also has a dry dock named after her, the Princess Elizabeth Graving Dock in East London, Eastern Cape, South Africa
A reservoir: the Queen Elizabeth II reservoir, between West Molesey and Walton-on-Thames in Surrey
An airport terminal: The Queen’s Terminal, Heathrow Airport, London (also known as Terminal 2)
The entrance to the departure terminal at Terminal 2, the Queen’s Terminal, at Heathrow Airport.
A gate: the Elizabeth Gate entrance to the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, London
A telescope: the (unfinished and long since shelved) Queen Elizabeth II telescope at Mount Kobau National Observatory, British Columbia, Canada
A train: Queen Elizabeth II, Great Western Railway’s 800003 intercity train
A planetarium: The Queen Elizabeth II Planetarium in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
A railway carriage: the Great Eastern Railway’s carriage No 9188 Collett Super Saloon Princess Elizabeth (now at Didcot Railway Centre in Oxfordshire)
A bell: not only is the tower in which Big Ben hangs named after The Queen, but so is a bell, The Worshipful Company of Vintners’ Elizabeth, the first cast and largest of the eight Royal Jubilee Bells, now in the church of St James Garlickhythe in London EC4
A cake: together with the more famous Coronation-chicken sandwich comes the Queen Elizabeth cake, Canada’s date-studded, coconut-topped delicacy
A group of islands: the Queen Elizabeth Islands, which form the northern portion of Canada’s Arctic Archipelago. Should this not suffice, there’s also Princess Elizabeth Island in Zimbabwe, Africa
Two mountain ranges: The Queen Elizabeth Ranges in the Canadian Rockies and the Queen Elizabeth Range in New Zealand’s Antarctica (which, bizarrely, also includes a Mount Bonaparte, although that particular moniker comes from a French geographer, rather than the Emperor Napoleon)
Medicine Lake with the Queen Elizabeth Ranges in the background at Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada.
A pigeon: officially called GB02ER34, The Queen’s racing pigeon went by the nickname of Queenie
A dance award: the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Award, the highest honour given by the Royal Academy of Dance, recognises people who have made an outstanding contribution to the medium
A campaign: The Queen Elizabeth II Fields Challenge, launched by Fields in Trust for the Diamond Jubilee, protected 1,396 playgrounds, bicycle trails, woodlands, nature reserves and coastal paths
A Filipino teenage celebrity: the daughter of Filipino senator, presidential candidate and former professional boxer Manny Pacquiao is named Queen Elizabeth (‘Queenie’) after The Queen
A hotel suite: the panoramic Elizabeth II suite at the Fairmont Le Château Frontenac in Québec City, Canada
A Chilean neighbourhood: Villa Reina Isabel II, an area of Macul in the province of Santiago, the Chilean capital
A river dock for large tankers: the Queen Elizabeth II Dock in Eastham, Merseyside
A pavilion: the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Pavilion in Queen’s Park, Bolton
A ferris-wheel pod: The London Eye’s Coronation Capsule doesn’t quite carry The Queen’s name, but was named in her honour
The London Eye. (Photo by Tim Graham/Getty Images)
A garden path: The Queen Elizabeth II Walkway at Halifax Public Gardens in Canada
A canal: The Queen Elizabeth II canal in Grangemouth, which links the Forth & Clyde Canal to the Firth of Forth
Two roses: ‘The Queen Elizabeth’, a pink floribunda originally bred in 1954, and the fragrant ‘The Queen Elizabeth II’, launched this year for the Platinum Jubilee
AND A NEAR MISS
The Loch Ness monster: conservationist Sir Peter Scott, who devoted part of the 1960s to looking for the mythical beast, wrote to the Palace suggesting that the monster should be named Elizabethia Nessiae. The offer was kindly turned down
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