Throughout her 70-year reign the Queen was known for her dedication to duty and service – both in times of crisis and celebration.
But in private the late monarch was known for her dry sense of humour and well-timed delivery, keeping her cards close to her chest and choosing her words wisely.
Ingrid Seward, one of the most respected royal biographers, wrote about the Queen’s sense of humour in her book My Mother And I.
She said: ‘The Queen was a master of the understatement delivered in her best deadpan voice as one of her closest friends, Lady Elizabeth Anson explained to me.’
Lady Elizabeth, or Liza as she was known to her friends, was the Queen’s cousin and a close confidante.
Seward spoke to her about the times the Queen had confided in her, including comments on Meghan Markle‘s wedding dress.
The Majesty Magazine editor wrote: ‘”Too white”, referring to Meghan’s wedding dress meant it was not appropriate for a divorcee getting married in church to look quite so flamboyantly virginal.
The late Queen was known – among many things – for her dry sense of humour and deadpan delivery
Ingrid Seward, one of the most prominent and respected writers on the British Royal Family, wrote about the Queen’s humour in her book, My Mother and I
Lady Elizabeth Anson or Liza as she was known to her friends, was the Queen’s cousin and a close confidante. She is pictured in 2013
‘”Too grand for us” was a remark she made to Lord Mountbatten as he was relaying the virtues of Marie-Christine’s noble lineage before she married Prince Michael of Kent.
‘”Too in love” was her response to Prince Harry under his future wife’s spell and “too presidential” described the former Labour prime minister with whom she never gelled, Tony Blair.’
In her Christmas speech in 1991 the Queen said: ‘Let us not take ourselves too seriously. None of us has a monopoly of wisdom.’
As Harry wrote in Spare, the Queen was sometimes hard to read and her quick remarks could be misinterpreted.
When the Duke approached the Queen during a shooting party at Sandringham to ask if he could marry Meghan, she gave a cryptic reply.
Harry wrote that he awkwardly asked: ‘I’ve been told that I have to ask your permission before I can propose’.
He alleged the late Queen then replied: ‘You have to?’ to which Harry replied that is what he had been told.
There was apparently a moment of silence before the Queen replied: ‘Well then, I suppose I have to say yes.’
Ingrid Seward is the author of the bestselling biography My Mother And I, published in 2024
The Majesty Magazine editor wrote that the Queen said Meghan’s wedding dress was ‘too white’
Harry wrote: ‘I didn’t get it. Was she being sarcastic? Ironic? Deliberately cryptic? Was she indulging in a bit of wordplay?
‘I’d never known Granny to do any wordplay and this would be a surpassingly bizarre moment (not to mention widely inconvenient) for her to start, but maybe she just saw the chance to play off my unfortunate use of the word “have” and couldn’t resist.’
Throughout her reign the late Queen showed her quick sense of humour.
In 2018 during a BBC documentary called Coronation, royal commentator Alastair Bruce focused on a moment when two bishops symbolically lifted the Queen on to a raised platform.
‘I can see the Bishop of Bath and Wells is very attentive Ma’am. The role of the two bishops is to take the weight of the crown, but they never have to do that,’ he said.
‘Really?’ she replied. ‘I thought they were just there to hold one’s clothes and stop one falling over them.’
She could also be incredibly self deprecating, once watching a video of herself and calling out to her husband: ‘Oh Philip, do look! I’ve got my Miss Piggy face on.’
Gyles Brandreth first met the Queen in 1968, when he was 20. Over the next 50 years he met her many times, both at public and at private events
He wrote in Elizabeth: An Intimate Portrait that this instinctive and self‑deprecating wit was as important a part of the Queen’s personality as the clothes she wore and the smile that lit up her face.
The late Queen in 2018, smiling with Meghan Markle
Throughout her reign the late Queen, pictured in 2022, showed her quick sense of humour
Written by author and broadcaster Gyles Brandreth, Elizabeth: An Intimate Portrait is a personal account of the life and character of Britain’s longest reigning monarch
And perhaps nothing was more central to that than her ability not just to make a joke, but to take a joke, too.
The Daily Mail’s Richard Kay wrote that for years, the Queen’s ability to say nothing, while speaking volumes, was undoubtedly one of her greatest strengths.
When a government minister’s mobile phone rang, in contravention of the rules, as she took a meeting of the Privy Council, she said: ‘I hope that wasn’t someone important.’
And on one occasion, exasperated by the behaviour of Prince Andrew, she sighed to her then daughter-in-law, Sarah Ferguson: ‘I am so glad you have taken Andrew off our hands, but why on earth did you do it?’
Andrew, as reported by Brandreth, had explained the sorry saga of his long relationship with the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, which led to him being stripped of his public roles.
‘Intriguing,’ was her one word reply.
This is another example of the late Queen being the master of the understatement, never saying more than was absolutely necessary.
Gyles Brandreth first met the Queen in 1968, when he was 20. Over the next 50 years he met her many times, both at public and at private events
The late Queen at her beloved Royal Windsor Horse Show in 2015
As Richard Kay wrote, this sense of humour was undoubtedly inherited from the Queen Mother.
Aged 95, Elizabeth learned that a masked intruder wielding a crossbow was intercepted in the grounds of Windsor Castle, announcing he had come to kill her.
And the Queen’s quip could have come from her waggish mother: ‘Well, that would have put a dampener on Christmas, wouldn’t it?’
Head coachman Colin Henderson recalls being with the Queen at the Windsor Horse Show when one of her grandchildren came up to her in the Royal Box.
The Queen said: ‘Did you have a good lunch?’ and the child replied: ‘Yes, Granny.’
To which the Queen said: ‘I thought so – you’ve got it all down your front.’
Seward even went as far to suggest that the Queen’s sense of humour was the secret to her and Philip’s long and happy marriage.
‘I think the secret is they laugh together. I think the Queen is the comedian,’ she said.
As Richard Kay wrote, the late Queen’s sense of humour was undoubtedly inherited from the Queen Mother, pictured in August 1999
It is likely the late Queen, who herself loved to imitate others, would have flashed a quick smirk at young Louis’s impression of his brother on VE day
Following his antics at many royal events, including the recent VE Day celebration, it seems Prince Louis may be following in his comedian great-grandmother’s shoes.
At the Buckingham Palace event earlier this year the young royal, aged seven, was seen talking to Prince George.
While the pair sat next to each other, Louis was spotted catching a glimpse of his brother gently brushing hair from his face.
Seconds later, his younger brother cheekily copied him, swishing his hair to the side while pulling an over-exaggerated facial expression.
It is likely the late Queen – who herself loved to imitate others – would have flashed a quick smirk at young Louis’s impression of his brother.
