The Queen owns all the whales, dolphins, porpoises and sturgeons in the waters around the UK and has received everything from jaguars, sloths, eggs and even 15lb of prawns as presents.

To mark the monarch’s 80th birthday, Buckingham Palace released 80 facts about her life, ranging from number-crunching statistics to quirky revelations.

Her Majesty has sat for 139 official portraits, opened 15 bridges in the UK, launched 23 ships and sent her first email from an Army base way back in 1976.

The Queen also has a message on the Moon. She sent congratulations to Apollo 11 astronauts for the first Moon landing on July 21, 1969.

She has met numerous astronauts at Buckingham Palace, including the the first man on the Moon, Neil Armstrong, the first astronaut to go into space, Major Yuri Gagarin, and the first woman in space, Valentina Tereschkova.

Among the many "firsts" the Queen has been responsible for are the first royal walkabout to greet the public in 1970, the first public concert in the gardens of Buckingham Palace - for her Golden Jubilee - and the first women’s only event at the royal residence in 2004.

A Buckingham Palace spokeswoman said: "If you look through the years the Queen has changed with the times. She’s always been a vanguard of change, but she also maintains traditions."

Sturgeons, porpoises, whales and dolphins are still recognised today as "Fishes Royal" and technically belonging to the Queen thanks to a statute dating back to 1324, the time of King Edward II. "Also the King shall have... whales and sturgeons taken in the sea or elsewhere within the realm," it declares.

In 2005, the Queen claimed ownership of 88 cygnets on the Thames. They are looked after by the Swan Marker. The first Royal Swan Keeper was appointed around the 12th century.

During her reign, the Queen has also received a variety of unusual gifts, including live animals.

Many have been placed in the care of the London Zoo, among them jaguars and sloths from Brazil, and two black beavers from Canada.

The Queen has also been given pineapples, eggs, a box of snail shells, a grove of maple trees and 15lb (7kg) of prawns.

She was a Girl Guide, speaks fluent French, learnt to drive in 1945 when she joined the Army, and has been on the London Underground, travelling on the Tube for the first time in May 1939 with her governess, Marion "Crawfie" Crawford, and her sister, Princess Margaret.

She has so far given out over 78,000 Christmas puddings to staff, continuing the custom of King George V and King George VI.

She has also owned more than 30 corgis and now has five named Emma, Linnet, Monty, Holly and Willow. The Queen introduced a new breed of dog known as the "dorgi" when one of her corgis was mated with a dachshund called Pipkin which belonged to Princess Margaret. She now has four dorgis - Cider, Berry, Candy and Vulcan.

The Queen is the first member of the Royal Family to be awarded a gold disc. More than 100,000 copies of the CD Party At The Palace, produced by EMI, were sold within the first week of release.

Since 1952, she has conferred over 387,700 honours and awards and personally held more than 540 investitures.

She sat for the first ever hologram portrait in 2003.

There have been six Archbishops of Canterbury, 10 Prime Ministers and 10 US presidents during her reign.

She has received over three million items of correspondence and sent around 100,000 telegrams to centenarians in the UK and the Commonwealth and more than 280,000 telegrams to couples celebrating their diamond wedding anniversary.

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