According to the guardian , The Queen of England owns all the UK’s mute swans. The way that is written, I am not sure if she just owns the swans that are mute or if the swans are mute and she owns them all. If this worries you, it might help to know that she only exercises her right of possession around Windsor.

Still, the swans have to be kept track of – counted and weighed – and somebody has to do it. That job falls to the Royal Warden of the Swans, biologist Christopher Perrins, and the Marker of the Swans, David Barber. The counting is called Swan Upping, and As they row past Windsor Castle, the swan uppers salute “Her Majesty the Queen, Seigneur of the Swans” in a time-honoured ceremony.

It is nice to know that the Old Ways still live.