The Queen has never owned any swans and now they could be moving on to a new owner

Swans across the country were protected and became known as "the queen's birds", even though she didn't technically own them - and now they could pass to a new owner

The queen never owned swans as we are told (

Image: Reuters)

Swans are known as the Queen's Birds and most people think Her Majesty owned all the long-necked feathered creatures in the land, but it turns out that wasn't quite true. Due to a medieval tradition, the late monarch had the title of Lord of the Swans - and with it the right to claim ownership of the birds if she so chose.

Furthermore, the long-standing rule only applied to one type of swan - the mute swan - and only in open waters. As Lord of the Swans, the Queen exercised only part of her right, over an 80-mile stretch of the River Thames from Sunbury-on-Thames, Surrey to Abingdon, Oxon. So while Her Majesty did own a small portion of the country's swans, she didn't own half as many as people thought - or as many as she might have had. Now the ability to claim ownership has passed to King Charles, with his ascension to the throne.

The queen was lord of the swans and could have claimed them if she wanted to (

Picture:

Getty Images)