Remembering Queen Elizabeth II’s Lighter Side
Though Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II was known for her formidability, she was also famously well-humoured and kind. The many tributes that are pouring in for her remind us that The Queen was also known for her humanity.
ANECDOTES TO REMEMBER HER MAJESTY FONDLY BY
The Royal Family first began the arduous task of rebranding their image in 1969 when they allowed the BBC to film the documentary Royal Family which followed the family performing every day tasks such as barbecuing at Balmoral or watching television together at the end of the day, reports BBC News.
Although successful, Her Majesty continued to redefine the Royal Family as time went on. Since those days, though, Queen Elizabeth II marked out her own identity within the public eye by holding herself with both grace and wit. The anecdotes that precede her include times when she made foreign dignitaries laugh and to her cameo appearances for the Olympic Games.
RELEASE THE HOUNDS
Former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd recalls the time Queen Elizabeth II released her corgis during a visit with Rudd. “She’s just a person with a great sense of fun and a sense of humour at the same time,” he says.
“I certainly remember being at Buckingham Palace when (wife) Therese asked where the corgis were… with the flash of a button pushed and a stampede of corgis arrived in the dining room and almost wrecked the place. And Therese pointed out one and said, ‘This one looks unlike the others’, and the Queen replied, ‘And her mother was a complete trollop,'” reports The Canberra Times.
“HAVE YOU MET THE QUEEN?”
One of The Queen’s former protection officers, Richard Griffin, recounts the time American hikers came across Her Majesty while she was near her Scottish residence Balmoral. Without recognising The Queen, one hiker asked if they had met Her Majesty to which she reportedly said, “I haven’t, but Dick here meets her regularly,” reports Reuters.
The hikers began asking questions about what she was like and Griffin tells Sky News that he joked that she was cantankerous at times. “Because I was with her a long time and I knew I could pull her leg (tease her), I said ‘Oh, she can be very cantankerous at times, but she’s got a lovely sense of humour,” he says.
The hikers then proceeded to ask Her Majesty to take a picture of them with Richard Griffin to show to people later.
MAKE WAY FOR THE QUEEN!
One of the most memorable ways that The Queen revealed her personality and unique brand of off-kilter humour was when she appeared in videos with cultural icons James Bond and Paddington Bear.
In 2012, it was once again London’s chance to host the Olympic Games and to launch, the city opened with a video of James Bond entering Buckingham Palace. In a shocking and delightful turn of events, he collects Her Majesty for a helicopter ride across London to the Olympic Stadium. To exit the plane, Queen Elizabeth seems to strap into a parachute a launch herself out over the crowd!
Her appearance with Paddington Bear was decidedly tamer and was in promotion of her Platinum Jubilee celebrations in 2022. The video shows Paddington sitting across from Her Majesty for a tea party at Buckingham Palace where he takes out one of his signature marmalade sandwiches that he keeps under his hat (for eating later). The Queen responds by pulling one from her purse. Warning, the video may make you cry from wholesomeness.
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II was not only a global treasure, she was a human being with a refined and wicked sense of humour. “Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown,” rings true for much of her reign, but finding ways to bring joy, security and laughter into her role was just another reason her presence will be sorely missed.
