The British royal family certainly inspires plenty of curiosity — but the things most people want to know about Queen Elizabeth II and company are more than a bit surprising.
OddsMonkey dug into Google search trends to see just what types of questions people are asking about the Windsors, and several of them are bound to raise eyebrows from anyone who hasn’t used the same search terms.
Popular searches include ‘Does the Queen fart?’ ‘Can the royal family play Monopoly?’ and even ‘Does the Queen eat swans?’
Does the Queen… OddsMonkey gathered data about popular Google searches about the British royal family — and some are quite surprising
Just the wind… People are very curious about some of Queen Elizabeth II’s habits — including, it seems, her flatulence
Funny: There also happens to be a 2016 children’s book called Does the Queen Fart?
Open-ended questions were typed into Google to see which were the most popular suggested auto-completes — and the results aren’t entirely what one might expect.
Some were simpler, with people asking if the Queen watches the Netflix series The Crown (she reportedly does), if she has a passport (she doesn’t need one, as UK passports are issued in her name), and if she has siblings (she had a younger sister, Princess Margaret, who died in 2002).
They search for whether she drives (she does, but she doesn’t need a license — for the same reason she doesn’t need a passport) or watches TV (affirmative; she likes Pointless, Antiques Roadshowm and Downton Abbey).
But one hilariously popular search asks, ‘Does the Queen fart?’
In fact, there is a 2016 children’s book by Heather Gordon that goes by that name, which could be the basis for the searches — though it’s also entirely possible that people are curious about the monarch’s flatulence.
Fan: People also want to know if she watches the Netflix series The Crown (she reportedly does)
Curious: Other questions include ‘Does the Queen drive?’ and ‘Does the Queen like Camilla?’
Relationship: People want to know how she really feels about her son’s second wife
Searchable: Popular searches in the US include ‘What does the Queen of England do?’ and ‘What does the Queen of England think of Trump?’
Also, quite oddly, other popular searches ask whether the Queen eats swans, or whether the royal family can eat swans.
Though the question seems to come out of left field, it’s inspired by a popular misconception that the Queen owns all the swans in the country, and that only she is allowed to eat them.
According to Smithsonian magazine, this isn’t quite true — but it comes from a long history that the royal family has with the bird.
Since medieval times, swans were considered luxury goods in Europe. Not only did nobility own them, but they served them at feasts, especially for Christmas. Henry III reportedly served 40 swans during the holiday in 1247.
In 1482, the crown rules that only people with a certain income could have swans, and thus only the rich — including the monarch — could eat them.
Swans eventually became less popular as food, falling out of fashion in Victorian times. And while the law making it treasonous to own or eat a swan below a certain income was not repealed until 1998, it is still illegal to keep or kill a swan under the 1981 Wildlife and Countryside Act.
Odd… People also want to know if the Queen and the royal family eat swans
History: The misconception comes from an old saying that the Queen owns all the swans in the country and that only she can eat them
The story: In fact, royalty and nobility used to eat swans at feasts, but the dish fell out of fashion during Victorian times. It is now illegal to kill a swan in the UK
Other questions searched of the royal family include whether they can vote (no), marry outside their religion (yes), or take selfies (yes).
People also asked some surprising things about the family, including if they can play Monopoly, eat garlic, or eat seafood. They all may seem like odd questions, since one might assume the answer is yes to all of those — but, in fact, it’s more complicated.
While they can eat garlic, the Queen herself does not like it and won’t eat it, according to several royal sources who say she doesn’t like the taste or smell.
The entire family is also banned from eating shellfish, but only while traveling abroad. This is to minimize the chance of getting any type of infection or food poisoning, according to the BBC.
And perhaps most surprisingly, Prince Andrew remarked in 2008 that Monopoly s actually off-limits — though not for any legal reasons.
Stud muffin: Searches for nude photos of Prince Harry are more popular than ones foe David Beckham
Ooh-la-la! Photos of the royal playing strip billiards in Las Vegas were leaked in 2008, but otherwise he has only been pictured without a shirt
Little brother: Pictures of Harry without clothes are more popular than ones of Prince William
‘We’re not allowed to play Monopoly at home. It gets too vicious,’ he said.
OddsMonkey’s research also found that people are quite interested in why the Queen stick to certain habits and rituals, like wearing gloves and a hat.
People also want to know what the Queen eats, flies in, drives, and thinks of Donald Trump.
Perhaps most surprising — or least, depending on your view point — is just how frequently people search for photos of Prince Harry in the nude. ‘Prince Harry naked’ racks up 14,800 searches every month — the same number as ‘Tom Hardy naked’ and more than ‘David Beckham naked.’
Most are likely seeking snaps taken of the royal in Las Vegas in 2012, which were leaked to TMZ at the time. The photos showed Harry completely nude during a game of ‘strip billiards’ at a Vegas hotel