Prince Philip Brought Out Queen Elizabeth’s ‘Great Sense of Humor,’ Recalls Former Royal Staff Member
Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip were married for more than 70 years, and according to a royal staffer, the Duke of Edinburgh brought out the best in the queen. He especially drew out her sense of humor, which could be wickedly clever. Here’s how one former staff member remembers a funny interaction between Prince Philip and Her Majesty.
Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth were married for more than 70 years
Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip got engaged and married in 1947, but their love story began long before then. They first met when Her Majesty was just eight years old while attending Prince George and Princess Marina’s 1934 wedding (per Us Weekly).
They made a romantic connection during their second meeting, when Queen Elizabeth was 13 and Prince Philip was 18, at the Royal Naval College in Dartmouth. At this time they began exchanging letters, which is how they fell in love.
After their engagement in July 1947, they got married at Westminster Abbey that November. They had four children during their marriage: Prince Charles, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew, and Prince Edward.
The queen praised Prince Philip during a speech on her golden wedding anniversary in 1997, a celebration marking 50 years of marriage. “He is someone who doesn’t take easily to compliments but he has, quite simply, been my strength and stay all these years,” she said. “And I, and his whole family, and this and many other countries owe him a debt greater than he would ever claim, or we shall ever know.”
A former royal staff member saw that Prince Philip brought out Queen Elizabeth’s ‘great sense of humor’
Steven Kaye served Queen Elizabeth as a royal footman for more than three years. He opened up to Slingo about his experience working for Her Majesty, and the wicked sense of humor she showed when Prince Philip was around.
“She does have a great sense of humour and she’d show it especially when she and the Duke were together,” Kaye shared.
He described a time when someone gave the queen a particularly smelly cheese as a gift. While many gifts get donated, Her Majesty chose to keep the cheese. “There was one time when somebody had given the queen a cheese as a gift at Sandringham.
“I don’t think I’ve ever smelt anything like it in my life. It was horrendous, you could smell it as soon as you walked into the room,” said Kaye. “The Duke had this grinder in his hands and was grinding this cheese, he was sitting at one end of the table and the queen at the other and he shouted over to the queen, ‘Lilibet, smell your fingers.’ She just looked over at him and cried ‘Oh Philip.’ Myself and the other footmen all looked at each other like did he actually just say that? It was really quite funny.”
The queen once trolled a tourist who didn’t recognize her
Queen Elizabeth didn’t always need Prince Philip to show off her sense of humor. Her former protection officer, Richard Griffin (who worked with the royal family for more than 30 years), described an instance when Her Majesty played a harmless joke on a tourist who didn’t recognize her (per Marie Claire).
She was walking around Balmoral when she ran into a group of American tourists, who had no idea they were in the presence of the queen of the United Kingdom. Griffin said that the tourists asked her if she lived in the area, to which Queen Elizabeth replied that she had a house nearby (which was technically true).
Then the tourists asked if she had ever met the Queen. She answered, “No, but this policeman has,” and pointed to Griffin. The protection officer said that the group parted ways with the tourists never realizing they had just spoken to the queen.
