Interesting Facts

Archaeologists in the UK are searching for the bones of the last Plantagenet king of England, Richard III. (So, where are they looking? In a grand cathedral, or the grounds of a palace? No, they're searching beneath a city centre parking lot in Leicester. The car park is said to have been built over a Franciscan friary known as Greyfriars, which housed the monarch's remains after he died at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485.)

According to Visit Britain, the British Monarchy generates over £500 million a year through attracting overseas tourists. (British culture and heritage, from theatres and galleries, to pubs, Premiership Football, castles and stately homes - generated £4.6 billion in total spending by overseas tourists in 2009, and supported 100,000 jobs, the report said. But within that total one-in-eight of those sites – ranging from the Tower of London to The Palace of Hollyroodhouse in Edinburgh and Ruthin Castle in Wales – are associated with the Monarchy. The report reveals that foreign tourists who visited them generated £500 million of spending, directly and indirectly. I wonder if they'd still come even if there was no monarchy?)

Each successive monarch faces in a different direction on British coins. (Now I never knew that - I am now going to go and look at my coin collection.)