GettyShe might be the pinnacle of royalty and elegance, but that doesn’t mean the Queen can’t have her moments.
Prince William has revealed an incident from his childhood in which his grandmother gave him – and cousins Zara and Peter Phillips – an ‘almighty bollocking’.
Speaking to Sky News to mark the Queen’s 90th birthday, he described a quad bike incident at Balmoral when the three of them were children.
PAHe said:
We were chasing Zara around who was on a go-cart, and Peter and I managed to herd Zara into a lamppost.
And the lamppost came down and nearly squashed her, and I remember my grandmother being the first person out at Balmoral running across the lawn in her kilt.
(She) came charging over and gave us the most almighty bollocking, and that sort of stuck in my mind from that moment on.
I’m sure a lot of people would have loved to see that.
In another interview for Queen Elizabeth’s 90th, William credited the Queen for helping him through the loss of his mother, and credited her for being a powerful female influence in his life. He also paid tribute to his grandmother’s sense of duty and her role as head of the Royal Family.
PAHe said:
She’s been a very strong female influence and having lost my mother at a young age, it’s been particularly important to me that I’ve had somebody like the Queen to look up to and who’s been there and who has understood some of the more, um, complex issues when you lose a loved one…
So she’s been incredibly supportive and I’ve really appreciated her guidance.
So while Queen Elizabeth may come off as straight-faced, she’s actually a great grandmother. Not only is she supportive, but she can also be a hard ass. The ultimate nan.
If you want to see the full documentary, titled The Queen at 90, tune into Sky News tonight at 9pm.
