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April Fools’ Day is the one day when just about everyone tries to get someone else to fall for a practical joke or prank. Even members of the royal family aren’t above having a little fun every now and then.

Most people remember that Prince Harry was the royal jokester, but there’s also another family member who liked to be mischievous sometimes. Now, a former royal staffer is revealing who that is.

Grant Harrold was King Charles’ butler for seven years. During his time working for the now-monarch, Harrold’s duties included those of valet, housekeeper, house manager, and driver. He also looked after Prince Harry, Prince William, and Kate whenever they stayed at Highgrove House. Since leaving the royal household, he’s become one of the U.K.’s leading etiquette experts, a best-selling author, and a royal commentator.

Speaking on behalf of Heart Bingo Online, Harrold told Showbiz Cheat Sheet, “Prince Harry was one of the biggest practical jokers. He was jumping out and scaring people and winding people up and all that kind of thing.”

However, Harrold recalls another royal messing around with him.

“The king and the late Queen [Elizabeth II] used to get up to bits of mischief — they had a good sense of humor,” he shared. “In the early days, I remember the late queen coming out of the dining room, where we were lined up to meet her following dinner. She came up and stopped in front of me and said something inaudible. I had no idea what she said. I just looked at her and she was waiting for an answer. So I said ‘Yes, Your Majesty,’ and she went, ‘Very good,’ and then walked off.

“I didn’t know what I had agreed to. The chef next to me said, ‘Oh, that’s amazing. She’s never done this before, the queen normally doesn’t speak to anyone. You’re honored.’ Later on, I was told that what the queen used to do, she would come up to you and she would say something inaudible or something that didn’t make sense to see how you reacted. So it was a bit of fun and innocent — it was to catch you off guard.”

Harrold isn’t the only person to have discussed Queen Elizabeth’s humor. We also know about some of her hilarious one-liners thanks to author Karen Dolby, who highlighted some of the following examples in the book The Wicked Wit of Queen Elizabeth II.

Dolby noted that one question the queen was asked numerous times over the years is why she always wore bright colors. Her response to that was, “If I wore beige, nobody would know who I am.”

The queen even displayed her wit during dinner parties. Like when she hosted a reception at Buckingham Palace and former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher felt like she was going to pass out. It was the second year in a row that Thatcher felt faint and needed to sit down. So when the queen noticed her, she told another one of her guests, “Oh, look! She’s keeled over again.”

Queen Elizabeth also managed to keep her sense of humor during a visit to New Zealand, when protesters threw eggs at her. After the incident occurred, she said, “I myself prefer my New Zealand eggs for breakfast.”

The late monarch liked to make celebrities she encountered laugh as well, like when she met Eric Clapton in 2005. She looked at the rocker and asked, “Have you been playing a long time?”