“I’m not a lady”: the most beautiful anecdotes from the life of the queen

“I am not a lady”
The most beautiful anecdotes from the life of the Queen

09/08/2022, 21:37

Queen Elizabeth II has been on the British throne for 70 years. Over the years, biographers and court reporters have collected countless anecdotes about the queen. The stories show a monarch full of humor, charm and wit.

Queen Elizabeth II died at the age of 96. For many Britons, however, the Queen will remain unforgettable. A number of anecdotes are known from the life of the monarch. Most show her as a woman with charm, humor, calm and at the same time quick-witted.

Once, when Elizabeth was seven, the Archbishop of Canterbury stroked her hair and asked, “How is the little lady?” As court anecdotes have reported, she confidently replied, “I’m not a lady, I’m a princess.” Then her mother, Queen Mum, intervened: “You were born a princess, hopefully one day you will become a lady.”

Elizabeth always got on well with her mother. But fights happen in the best families. And so the next dialogue between the two was tapped for a theater premiere in London’s West End. “Who do you think you are?” Queen Mom asked. And again the answer was confident: “The Queen, Mama, the Queen.”

“Dog leashes cost money”

On her way to Balmoral Castle in Scotland, the Queen once saw a small shop by the side of the road and curiously entered. The saleswoman looked at her in disbelief: “You look a lot like the Queen.” Elizabeth II replied, “Oh, how comforting!”

On another occasion, the queen decided simply to order a picnic basket over the phone from a large department store. When she gave her name and address, she was greeted with disbelief; she was considered a prankster. Only an investigation at Buckingham Palace revealed that the Queen actually answered the phone herself.

The queen’s frugality is also legendary. Prince Charles learned that as a young boy when he lost a dog’s leash at the Sandringham estate. His mother immediately sent him to look for it: “Dog leashes cost money,” she taught him.

Difficult relationship with Thatcher

The sparrows whistle from the roof of Buckingham Palace that the relationship between the Queen and then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was not tense. It is said that the “Iron Lady” was furious that she and the Queen wore dresses of almost the same green color for a social occasion. “Wouldn’t it be a good idea if we agreed in advance?” Thatcher asked Elizabeth II in a message. The traditional answer: “The Queen doesn’t pay attention to what other people wear.”

But the Queen could also be kind and forgiving: at one of her famous garden parties, she struck up a conversation with a young woman. Shortly after, her cell phone rang, visibly embarrassing her. The Queen of Great Britain and Northern Ireland said with a smile: “Pick up the phone, it could be someone important.”

Incognito among tourists

As a former bodyguard recalled, the Queen once met tourists while walking near her Scottish castle, Balmoral. The Americans asked her if she lived nearby and knew the Queen. The queen then pointed to the bodyguard and replied, “No, but he.” The two tourists insisted on taking a picture with the man – and asked the Queen to press the shutter button. She played along without blinking an eyelid.

Of course, the queen could also make pointed remarks. Once, when she was riding in an open carriage through London, a guard on his horse accidentally blocked her several times. “So, Captain,” she hissed at the rider, “I think people came to me and not to you.”

On the other hand, modesty was indeed her showpiece, as the Royal Librarian Sir Own Morshead once reported. Long ago, she ordered books about Hollywood star Marilyn Monroe, saying, “I wonder what it’s like to be the most famous woman in the world.” Maybe she had an idea later on.