If you are being shown around London and manage to visit one of our beautiful royal parks, you will inevitably be told that the Queen owns every swan in the kingdom. Upon this point, you can immediately tell them that the Queen does in fact own any unclaimed mute swan in open water in the UK, although she shares this responsibility with two public bodies.

This all dates back to the 1400s and it means that every year, staff from the public bodies (and on one occasion in 2009 the Queen herself) travel along the River Thames to register any unmarked swans.