Queen Elizabeth Once Pranked Tourists at Balmoral by Pretending to Be Someone Else

Queen Elizabeth is no stranger to a good laugh. Remember that time she absolutely lost it over her grandson-in-law Mike Tindall's hat trick?! Or when she poked fun at herself over the question of cider versus Champagne?

So it should come as no surprise that the queen once trolled some tourists who didn't recognize her while she was at her Balmoral estate. Luckily, the story, which took place back in 2019, recently resurfaced to give us a laugh. 

According to her former protection officer Richard Griffin via The Independent, a group of American visitors who were exploring the grounds of Balmoral happened upon Queen Elizabeth as she and Griffin were walking. She was wearing a head scarf and tweed coat, and we guess none of the tourists recognized her, because one of them asked if she lived in the area. She told them she lived close by. ("Close by" as in, the castle that you're visiting...)

The group then asked her if she had ever met the queen. Queen Elizabeth, being a prankster at heart, replied, "No, but he has," as she pointed to protection officer Griffin. Classic.

While it's fun to think the queen decided to play a practical joke on the visitors, it's pretty shocking that none of the group recognized her (perhaps because she's usually wearing such bright colors?). In any case, if we ever make it to her Scottish estate, we'll be sure to not mistake any cute little lady (scarf or otherwise) for a commonplace neighbor. 

And now we know where William and Harry get their love of dad jokes from... 

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