The late Queen was famous for having a dry sense of humour and quick wit, but what many people might not know is quite how cheeky she could be when she was a child too. Nowadays her great-grandson Prince Louis arguably holds the title of ‘cheekiest royal’, yet a new biography has detailed the mischievous Queen Elizabeth creating a “disco” with the lights.
Writing in The Queen: 100 Years, 100 Stories, Michelle Morgan recalls that the then-Princess cheekiness was “perhaps the most entertaining” of her personality traits “for the press and public at least”. She mentions a moment featured in Anne Ring’s official book about Elizabeth, where she “took it upon herself” to mess around with the lights and told off her own mother!
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“The Princess turned the light on and was told to switch it off again. Elizabeth then took it upon herself to create a disco vibe by switching the light on and off as fast as she could,” she reflects.
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She was then “forcibly removed from the switch” by the Queen Mother and apparently “squealed, ‘Naughty Mummy!’ and proceeded to attempt a return to the switch”. It sounds like Queen Elizabeth was the “naughty” one in this situation and given how calm, respectful and polite she was in public throughout her life it’s hard to imagine these childhood antics.
Her Majesty’s signature quips also started in childhood, with Michelle describing a memorable visit paid by the Queen Mother and Elizabeth to see the doll’s house, Titania’s Palace. Although the Princess “took great delight” in looking at the nursery she was said to have been “appalled” by the toys all over the floor.
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“‘How frightfully untidy,’ she exclaimed, before complaining that her nanny always made her pick up her own toys,” the author writes.
All children go through phases of pushing boundaries and being a bit cheeky, and it seems Queen Elizabeth was no exception. At the time she wasn’t expected to become Queen and although she was third in the royal line of succession, her parents gave her and her sister Margaret as ordinary an upbringing as possible.
“On advice from Queen Mary, the two girls had always had as much of a ‘normal’ childhood as they could manage, given that they were in the royal spotlight,” Michelle claims.
Queen Mary, the grandmother of Queen Elizabeth, apparently declared “childhood is short enough without deliberately reducing it, or allowing it to be overshadowed by future greatness’.
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Her “main concern” when Elizabeth and Margaret were young was “making sure that the two girls kept in good health, away from public duties”.
It’s interesting that this was their grandmother’s priority, given how it also went on to be Queen Elizabeth’s for her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Prince William and Kate are believed to have had her and King Charles’s permission to focus on raising their family above royal duties when George, Charlotte and Louis were young.
“I take duty very seriously. I take my responsibilities very seriously. But it’s about finding your own way at the right time and if you’re not careful duty can sort of weigh you down an awful lot at a very early age and I think you’ve got to develop into the duty role,” Prince William declared in a 2016 interview with the BBC.
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Queen Elizabeth II