Among the many defining characteristics of Elizabeth II’s personality, her sense of humor was one of the most striking, says those who knew her.
But, in the midst of the solemnity of the tributes and declarations of condolence, few have highlighted this fact – Anthony Albanese, the Australian Prime Minister, was one of those, having stressed that the way he carried out his duties “let his humanity show and performed their duties with fidelity, integrity and humour”.
An episode reported in June, on the occasion of the Queen’s Jubilee, reveals well the fun side of Elizabeth II and has gone viral on social media in recent hours.
During Sky News’ special edition of the Jubilee, Richard Griffin, the monarch’s former protection officer — who referred to him by the diminutive “Dick” — recounted a hilarious encounter between Elizabeth II and two American tourists.
The Queen and her bodyguard were strolling through the hills near Balmoral Castle in Scotland (where the statesman died yesterday) when, in the middle of nowhere, they came across two American tourists who were hiking through the UK.
The tourists did not recognize the queen and, in the middle of the conversation, asked her where she lived. Elizabeth replied that she lived in London, but that she had a country house nearby, and that she had vacationed there for over 80 years.
It was then that one of the tourists added two and two (or almost): knowing that they were close to Balmoral Castle, he asked Elizabeth II… if she had ever met the queen.
“Fast as an arrow she said, ‘Not me, but Dick meets her here regularly,’” reported Dick Griffin, amused. The two tourists’ attention then focused on Dick, the-man-who-knew-her. -queen. They wanted to know what she was like, to which the bodyguard replied, “Oh, she can be very petty sometimes, but she has a nice sense of humour.”
Watch the video:
At this moment, one of the Americans put an arm over the bodyguard’s shoulder and decided to immortalize that moment when he had crossed paths with someone who knew Elizabeth II. “Before I knew what was happening, he took the camera, gave it to the queen and said: ‘Can you take a picture of us?’”.
Elizabeth II did not decompose. She took the portrait, and then ended up posing next to the two walkers, photographed by the bodyguard.
As the two tourists resumed their walk and walked away, Elizabeth couldn’t resist commenting, “I would love to be a fly when he shows these photographs to his friends in America and someone tells him who I am.”
Source: CNN Brasil
I’m James Harper, a highly experienced and accomplished news writer for World Stock Market. I have been writing in the Politics section of the website for over five years, providing readers with up-to-date and insightful information about current events in politics. My work is widely read and respected by many industry professionals as well as laymen.
