Royal Anecdotes

[Sophus]

During a visit to Ottawa in Canada Prince Philip told the audience, "The monarchy exists not for its own benefit, but for that of the country. We don't come here for our health. We can think of better ways of enjoying ourselves."

 

[Sophus]

During King George VI's tour of Canada before the Second World War he noticed, while visiting a provincial town, that the mayor was not wearing his chain of office. Looking for an opportunity to present him with a gold chain, the King asked him whether or not he already had one. "Yes, sir", the mayor replied, "I do". "But I notice you are not wearing it", said the King. "Oh", explained the mayor, "I only wear it on special occasions."

 

[BeatrixFan]

When he was young, Prince Charles, who was sensitive about his ears sticking out, was told by his uncle Lord Louis Mountbatten, "They'll never let you be King with ears like that."

Lord Louis did suggest to the Queen that the ears were pinned back but HM refused the idea. The certainly don't seem prominent now.

 

[Olka]

One about the Queen Mother, I don't remember where I read it, it must have been a newspaper or so....: the Queen Mother was not very punctual, she used to be almost always late for ceremonies, visitis and so on. Once when she arrived late again to a reception, she said, "I'm sorry for being late again, but I put on such a marvellous dress, it fitted me so well, that couldn't stop looking at myself in the mirror".

 

[BeatrixFan]

I love that. The Queen Mother used to like setting up a rifle at the windows of Clarence House to shoot squirrels in the trees. This carried on until Tony Blair sent a polite note saying that he didn't think it was quite safe. The Queen Mother retorted, "He wants to be careful I don't aim for him!"

 

[Avalon]

I love that. The Queen Mother used to like setting up a rifle at the windows of Clarence House to shoot squirrels in the trees. This carried on until Tony Blair sent a polite note saying that he didn't think it was quite safe. The Queen Mother retorted, "He wants to be careful I don't aim for him!"

That's such a great story! Though maybe not shooting squirrels but the Blair part was amazing!

Sophus, the one about King George is great! I wonder what counted as a 'special occasion' for the man?

 

[Sophus]

That's such a great story! Though maybe not shooting squirrels but the Blair part was amazing!

Sophus, the one about King George is great! I wonder what counted as a 'special occasion' for the man?

Me too... I guess the gold chain was hardly seen in these days...

 

[Oppie]

I was watching a talk show today, and two of the hosts talked about some times that they met royals

The first one was from Rosie O'Donnell who was in the Flinstone movie, which had a royal premire, she met Prince Charles and said Hello Sir and did a curtsey. Another man walks up to Prince Charles and just said hello. Rosie thought he got the greeting wrong, so she asks him who he is he replies King Constaine of Greece.

The second one was from Barbara Walters (who is a journalist) she was skiing and this man comes up to talk to her and she doesn't realize who he is (she thinks he is the waiter) until he says you met my cousin and then she realizes it was King Constaine. As she is leaving another man comes up to her, she talks to him not wanting to make the same mistake as soon as she leaves she asks someone who he was, it was King Juan Carlos.

 

[BeatrixFan]

Great stuff! The Rosie O'Donnell story is a brilliant one. So is the Babs Walters one. Lovely stories - thankyou for sharing.

 

[Esmerelda]

How the King and Queen of Sweden got Crown Princess Victoria to give up her pacifiers. Originally posted by Eve2Eden on http://www.theroyalforums.com/forum...man-lindqvist-2009-a-25082-2.html#post1143433

Victoria was very attached to her pacifiers (or “dummies,” as the book translates it) when she was little and stubborn about giving them up. One day while on a boat she asked if fish had pacifiers, and I guess the King and Queen decided to take advantage of the situation:

'No,” they answered. “We feel sorry for the fish. Can’t you give them your dummies?


’Of course,' I said, and threw all my dummies into the sea- just to make the fish happy.


I soon regretted what I had done. It was a disaster at bedtime. I was very unhappy and so angry with my parents that I refused to sleep where my mother and father slept. I demanded to go to Nenne. She was the only person who was kind to me.”

So the King had to carry a hysterical Victoria, in the middle of the night, all the way to the other side of the palace where Nenne had her own apartment. Ironically, Victoria later colluded with the nanny (not sure if was the same one) to trick Madeleine into giving up her pacifiers, which Madeleine never knew (though I guess the cat is out of the bag now ) and which Victoria says she still has a “bad conscience” over.

I know this is an old thread but I'd love to read about more anecdotes.

 

[Esmerelda]

45 ANIVERSARIO BODA REAL: ANEXO
Some anecdotes of King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia. Google translate isn't great for Spanish but it's mostly comprehensible. I particularly liked the shopping anecdote:

The King and Queen were on a visit to the US in the 80s and they were asked how they would spend the free afternoon. King Juan Carlos said: She'll shop and I'll carry the bags.'

 

[Katrianna]

Princess Margaret, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton were on an air flight together. Elizabeth wore a fabulously huge diamond ring, and Margaret was overheard to as saying how vulgar the ring looked. Elizabeth allowed Margaret to try on the ring and while she was admiring it Elizabeth stated, " doesn't look so vulgar now does it?"

King Frederik of Denmark was giving a radio speech to the Danish people one evening and he was heard to stop his speech and yelled," Margrethe, get your feet off of the table!" The future Queen was a teenager at that time.

 

[MRSJ]

Princess Margaret, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton were on an air flight together. Elizabeth wore a fabulously huge diamond ring, and Margaret was overheard to as saying how vulgar the ring looked. Elizabeth allowed Margaret to try on the ring and while she was admiring it Elizabeth stated, " doesn't look so vulgar now does it?"

King Frederik of Denmark was giving a radio speech to the Danish people one evening and he was heard to stop his speech and yelled," Margrethe, get your feet off of the table!" The future Queen was a teenager at that time.

Ha ha- love these!

 

[biathlon22]

45 ANIVERSARIO BODA REAL: ANEXO
Some anecdotes of King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia. Google translate isn't great for Spanish but it's mostly comprehensible. I particularly liked the shopping anecdote:

The King and Queen were on a visit to the US in the 80s and they were asked how they would spend the free afternoon. King Juan Carlos said: She'll shop and I'll carry the bags.'

I also like the "kisses on the telephone" story!

 

[mattep74]

When i read a book about the Battle of Britain a while back there was a story about the (unintentional) bombing of the Royal Palace. The queen is reported to have stated "Thank good, now i can look the people living in East End straight in the eye"(East End was the area in London that suffered worst from the bombing)

 

[sunsh1n3]

Great stories...

 

[Royal Fan]

ok Prince William was about to go to University and the issue of money came up and a reporter asked if the Prince of Wales had chipped in to which he said "I Chip in all the bloody time"

 

[Muhler]

The late Queen Ingrid was very personification of being regal, at some point many years ago she attended a ball with a number of new lieutenants and the officer she was dancing was apparantly nervous, so he was babbling away.
Until Queen Ingrid quietly said: "Young man. I ask, you answer".

I guess the story originate from the officer himself as I doubt she would have shouted these words. - Just a quiet and stylish whack in the back of the neck.

 

[Royal Fan]

lol thats funny

 

[Esmerelda]

Royalty Online: Intimate details of Queen Margrethe's younger years revealed in new books

Blog post with some details about Queen Margrethe's life.

http://anecdotage.com/ has a lot of anecdotes involving the British Royal family, I don't have time to read them all but they're quite funny so if anyone's bored type in 'Queen Elizabeth' there should be 83 results.

Princess Anne once let loose her dog to 'tactically' help Peter's rugby team win a match.
http://royaltyonline.blogspot.com/2010/08/zara-and-peter-open-up-on-life-with.html

 

[Esmerelda]

Het Nieuwsblad - Prins Filip verzamelt theepotten

A few anecdotes and fun facts about the Belgian Royal family. I particularly liked these:
-Someone once tried to break into Princess Astrid's car to steal her handbag and she hit him
-Prince Laurent wanted to name Aymeric after an orange dinosaur from a children's television programme but Claire wouldn't let him
-Prince Joachim swapped the business cards on the seats and planted cards pinhead up at Laurent and Claire's wedding

 

[elladora]

King Frederik of Denmark was giving a radio speech to the Danish people one evening and he was heard to stop his speech and yelled," Margrethe, get your feet off of the table!" The future Queen was a teenager at that time.

Nice one! haha

 

[Archduchess Zelia]

Had a great laugh reading through this thread.

King Frederik of Denmark was giving a radio speech to the Danish people one evening and he was heard to stop his speech and yelled," Margrethe, get your feet off of the table!" The future Queen was a teenager at that time.

This one in particular almost had me on the floor laughing

 

[Daria_S]

King Frederik of Denmark was giving a radio speech to the Danish people one evening and he was heard to stop his speech and yelled," Margrethe, get your feet off of the table!" The future Queen was a teenager at that time.

That's simply priceless . Shows that teens will be teens, regardless of rank and station.

ok Prince William was about to go to University and the issue of money came up and a reporter asked if the Prince of Wales had chipped in to which he said "I Chip in all the bloody time"

I remember reading about this comment some time ago. A very 'parental' answer.

 

[Tyger]

Royal Musings Blog - Historical Anecdotes

Don't know where to put this but it is so amusing I wanted to share it.

It's from this blog - Royal Musings - LINK: Royal Musings


June 18, 1898

Ena has a temper tantrum

Little Princess Ena of Battenberg, [...], is a "young miss with a will of her own, as well as a little temper."

Read more here.

 

[Alexey 1904]

Hmmm. I guess even royal children can be brats once in a while.

 

[Lumutqueen]

Of all the children in the world, IMO royal ones are the most likely to be brats.

 

[PrincessSerena]

This one is about Alexei Romanov, the Tsarevich.

His father was working outside while they were being held captive and he sprayed his father with cold water! Also he put a strawberry in a woman's shoe and she screamed. Alexei would also lick his plate during dinner to annoy his family. He would also make fun of one of his servants and say "Look at fatty run!"

I love Alexei!

 

[NGalitzine]

Of all the children in the world, IMO royal ones are the most likely to be brats.

In my experience growing up I would have said it was the children of vicars........and today I would say it is the children of some of my friends who somehow got the idea that setting limits for children is somehow damaging to their self esteem and just let them pretty much run wild. Once they go away to school that will get drummed out of them pretty quickly and they will learn some pretty rude lessons, if not from the tutors then definitely by the other children.

My guess would be that royal children have some pretty strick limitations on what they can and cannot get away with from a very early age. Nannies dont let children get away with very much, and also there is the need for them to learn to behave in public pretty early on as well as interacting with older people from an early age.

 

[Daria_S]

This one is about Alexei Romanov, the Tsarevich.

His father was working outside while they were being held captive and he sprayed his father with cold water! Also he put a strawberry in a woman's shoe and she screamed. Alexei would also lick his plate during dinner to annoy his family. He would also make fun of one of his servants and say "Look at fatty run!"

I love Alexei!

I personally think Alexei had a great deal of behavior issues, and yes, part of it was the fact that he was the baby of the family as well as the long-awaited Heir Apparent. Another part is the fact that he had a lot of limitations and no explanation as to why he needed to abide by them. He acted out like any other kid would, and of course got out of hand (and few would reprimand him). I read in a book called 'A Lifelong Passion: Nicholas and Alexandra In Their Own Words' that when some of the extended family were over, the kids were appalled at the fact that Alexei had horrible table manners, and he was ten years old at the time. I think that's pretty disgraceful, especially for a child that would one day be expected to rule a nation. He gave his tutors and sailor attendants a run for their money too. Pierre Gilliard mentioned that once Alexei decided to run around the schoolroom with scissors and when someone tried to stop him, he climbed up on the table and refused to listen to reason. So basically, a little brat and terror, which is not a good combination in any child.