7 Times the Queen Proved She Had a Great Sense of Humor
Queen Elizabeth II was one of the longest-reigning monarchs, and she took her job pretty seriously. Despite that, she did have a dry British sense of humor and she always managed to find moments of levity in her day-to-day duties like harmlessly joking about Prince Philip or even giving classy responses. Here are some of the funniest moments of Her Majesty, that’ll make your day.
1. Her jokes have a dry wit with a cryptic edge that amuses everyone.
During the video call in 2022, Her Majesty the Queen spoke about her memories of visiting Australia in 1988. She told how she remembered “trying to avoid that bit of water,” meaning the pond inside the building. Also, she added: “I wondered how many people had fallen into it.”
Once she also accidentally met a few American tourists on a rainy day with a protection officer. When the tourists didn’t recognize the wrapped-up figure, they asked her if she’d ever met the Queen in real life. She replied, pointing to the protection officer, “No, but he has.”
2. She acted in the funny sketch with Paddington Bear.
This year, Buckingham Palace offered an idea to film Her Majesty acting opposite Paddington Bear. The sketch was shown during the Jubilee concert.
The bear pulls a marmalade sandwich from under his red hat in the sketch. The Queen jokingly claims that she keeps a marmalade sandwich in her handbag too.
Frank Cottrell Boyce, who co-wrote this scene said in an interview with BBC News, “She’s absolutely glowing in that moment. And you’ve got to remember that that’s real acting that’s going on there. Paddington isn’t really in the room. She’s acting with an eye-line and with someone pretending to be Paddington. That’s proper acting going on. But I also think it’s true happiness.”
3. She loved joking about Prince Philip.
While giving one of her speeches, Queen Elizabeth II mentioned her husband, saying: “All too often Prince Philip has had to listen to me speaking. Frequently we discussed my intended speech beforehand. And, as you will imagine, his views have been expressed in a forthright manner.” Prince Philip laughed at it, and so did the audience.
4. The Queen joined James Bond for an Olympic sketch with Daniel Craig.
In 2012, the Queen starred in a short film, Happy and Glorious. It was made for the London Olympics. In the sketch, Daniel Craig’s James Bond goes to Buckingham Palace and meets the monarch sitting at a writing desk. Her Majesty greets him with the words, “Good evening, Mr. Bond.” He escorts her by helicopter to the stadium. Then they both skydived out of the helicopter into the stadium by the means of parachutes. Of course, it was done by stunt workers.
5. She once gave a very legendary reply to the question, “How are you?”
When Her Majesty visited Northern Ireland in the year 2016, she was asked if she was well. To that, she replied, “Well, I’m still alive, anyway!” proving that her responses were iconic at all times.
6. She joked about her statue in South Australia.
During the presentation of the statue of Her Majesty, it was highlighted that it became the most popular place for people to take photos. Although she knows how to stay stoic, her sense of humor makes everything amusing. Her Majesty’s response was, “I would think possibly it might be quite alarming to suddenly see it out of the window — you’d think, gracious, has she arrived unexpectedly?” This clearly indicated that she loved the monument and would leave no stone unturned to keep the moment jolly.
7. She supported the jokes of others.
In 2016, when Prince Harry showed the Queen the video of the Invictus Games challenge, Her Majesty gave a very sassy response after viewing it.
The video began with, “Hey, Prince Harry, remember when you told us to bring it at the Invictus Games?” then another voice added added, “Careful what you wish for.” Then a soldier in the background drops a mic. The clip then moved to Prince Harry and Queen Elizabeth, where the latter responded, “Oh, really, please!”