Live briefing: Charles formally proclaimed king; funeral for Queen Elizabeth II will be Sept. 19
An American tourist once asked Elizabeth: Have you ever met the queen? A favorite story about the queen’s wicked sense of humor involves the time she happened upon an American tourist hiking near her Balmoral estate in the Scottish highlands. He clearly didn’t recognize her, asking: Had she ever met the queen? “I haven’t,” the queen responded. Then she pointed at her protection officer, Richard Griffin, and said he “meets her regularly.”
The hiker asked Griffin what the queen was like — “Oh, she can be very cantankerous at times, but she’s got a lovely sense of humor,” he replied — and then asked for a photo with the bodyguard, handing the queen a camera. (She happily obliged.)
It was just one of many times the queen showed her wit. The queen could dish out quips and one-liners, London correspondent Karla Adam writes, and even appeared in a comedy skit with James Bond actor Daniel Craig during the 2012 London Olympics and later Britain’s beloved Paddington Bear for her Platinum Jubilee celebration this year. Paddington tweeted this week upon her death: “Thank you Ma’am, for everything.”
