Photobombs, hungry horses, and a foulmouthed weatherman – these
hilarious royal moments caught us all off guard!
The late Queen Elizabeth II was well known for being prim and proper,
but every once in a while, she broke character to deliver a hilarious one-liner or subtle
roast. During the 2015 Commonwealth Heads of Government banquet in Malta,
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau toasted the queen by thanking her for her
long service to the Commonwealth. He also remarked that the queen had "seen more of
Canada than most Canadians." The queen had an off-the-cuff response to that comment.
"Thank you, Mr. Prime Minister of Canada, for making me feel so old."
After the royal family shared the queen's quote on Twitter,
Trudeau took the opportunity to deliver this smooth response in a retweet:
Prince Harry has a long history of cheeky, mischievous behavior. On numerous occasions,
young Harry was seen sticking his tongue out at reporters — usually from the backseat of
a car. Even as an adult, he's embraced this goofy expression. As revealed in her book,
"Harry: A Biography of a Prince," Harry told journalist Angela Levin:
This apparently applies to toddlers,too. In 2017, Harry sat next to a young child while
watching the Invictus Games. The little girl got away with stealing handfuls of
Harry's popcorn for several minutes before he even noticed. Rather than getting angry
or ignoring her, he playfully teased her and offered to share his snack.
Catherine, Princess of Wales, is the epitome of grace. Even when she got feisty on a cricket
pitch or caught her high heel in a drain, she somehow managed not to look awkward at
all. Needless to say, this royal mom isn't intimidated by unexpected circumstances.
We have to imagine that when the pregnant Princess of Wales arrived at Paddington Station on October
16, 2017, she probably wasn't planning on having a waltz with a bear — but that's what happened.
According to Time, this was the first event she had attended in a while due to bouts of morning
sickness. If anything, she may have been hoping for a quick meet and greet, but the costumed
character, Paddington Bear, had different plans. In classic Kate fashion, she stepped
into the dance without hesitation. Paddington sure does have a way with the royal family.
"Nevermind,"
Meghan Markle has often made headlines for breaking royal
protocol — mostly by accident. Credit to her for setting some boundaries,
but some of these awkward moments make for great entertainment.
A particularly funny moment happened in 2018 when Meghan and the queen
paid a visit to Cheshire. After meeting with various groups in the community,
the two royals returned to the car. Meghan appeared not to know if she should head
into the car before the queen or not — she even paused to ask the monarch herself. In the end,
the queen ushered the new duchess into the vehicle first. We can't really blame
her for second-guessing this situation — you don't want to get in the queen's way!
As for who was actually supposed to enter the car first, it's not totally clear but it may
have been the queen. As Metro explained, royal processions are ordered by the line of succession,
with the monarch at the start. Additionally, as etiquette coach William Hanson told Elle,
If you have a toddler at home, you know just how tricky it can be to get them to settle down.
Apparently, even the adorable royal children are troublemakers at times! CBS News caught a
chaotic moment between Prince Louis and his mom at the queen's platinum jubilee celebration.
When Catherine leaned down to whisper to him, the little prince suddenly slapped his little
hand over her mouth. She took this moment in stride, but that didn't make much of an
impression on Louis, as he kept trying to cover her mouth. Every time she tried to speak to him,
he writhed, stuck out his tongue, and made hand gestures to deflect her — all
classic toddler tantrum tactics. We feel for Catherine, but this little goofball seems more
amusing than threatening to us. As People put it, the young royal was a show-stealer.
Like his little brother Prince Louis, Prince George has had some amusing
candid moments himself. In 2019, a video of the royal family baking a Christmas dessert
together went viral after the young prince got a little too enthusiastic
with his mixing. What started out as a sweet holiday video ended in a "massacre" of pudding,
as one YouTube user described it. It's okay, George, we love your energy!
This isn't the only time the young royal has set himself up for hilarious strings
of comments online. During the queen's platinum jubilee,
photographers captured some great expressions on George's face.
Most of us have trouble even making conversation with the higher ups in
our company — can you imagine trying to make small talk with the most powerful
men and women in the world? Apparently, this was no problem for Queen Elizabeth II. She
was a natural at lightening the mood, and there are receipts to back it up.
While posing for a photo with the likes of then-U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson,
U.S. President Joe Biden, and then-German Chancellor Angela Merkel,
the queen cracked a joke to get everyone smiling.
"Are you supposed to be looking as if you're enjoying yourself?"
The moment was especially hilarious due to the dramatic framing and official atmosphere of
the set. We have to admit, seeing a bunch of world leaders all chuckling together
in the same room made us feel a little lighter about today's political climate.
King Charles III would make an excellent weatherman. During his 2012 visit to BBC
Scotland's headquarters in Glasgow, the British royal performed a special
newscast to celebrate 60 years of the network's time on air. We're
sure audiences did a double take when they turned on their televisions that morning.
For the bit, producers introduced Charles to their green screen weather map and had him
read from the prompter, to fantastic results. It's impressive how smoothly he rattled off
different city names and weather patterns, but the best parts were his cheeky, off-script remarks.
"There'll be snow for the higher ground of the highlands and Aberdeenshire,
the potential for a few flurries over Balmoral. Who the hell wrote this script?"
After describing how dismal the weather was going to be all over the country,
he ended the segment with a final joke.
"And a brisk northeastly wind. Thank God it isn't a bank holiday."
From her famous royal corgis to the time she fed an elephant bananas at London's Whipsnade Zoo,
Queen Elizabeth II was always a friend to the animals in her life. After receiving a pony
when she was a young child, the queen fell hard for horses in particular. According to the BBC,
her lifelong support of the Royal Windsor Horse Show helped save numerous breeds from extinction.
It's hilariously ironic then that the queen had
a hard time with a pony when she visited Stirling Castle in 2017.
"Go away! They always eat the flowers."
In the end,
she still couldn't resist giving the mini steed a few pats on the head — she even went to the
effort of passing the flowers behind her back so that she could get close to him.
Our favorite pets have a way of keeping us on our toes, even if you're a monarch.
The late Duke of Edinburgh had plenty of dry jokes and amusing opinions to share over the
years. According to The Telegraph, he enjoyed catching people off guard so much news outlets
started assigning him special "Philip watch" reporters to catch his best off-the-cuff comments.
"You're about to see the world's most experienced plaque unveiler."
Perhaps the funniest Philip moment actually goes to an older clip from 7 News. In the video,
a reporter detailed the royal couple's anniversary plans while Philip walked by
behind her in a procession. The duke side-eyed her for a few moments as
he listened in, then stopped behind her and waited for her to finish her story.
"Finished?"
When interviewed about the famous interaction in 2021, the reporter, Romilly Weeks, said,
Video calls brought us all closer during the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns — and by closer,
we mean closer to strangling our parents for not being able to figure out how to unmute themselves
or turn the selfie cam. Like the rest of us, the royal family also used video chatting to
keep the ball rolling during the pandemic, and they struggled with the same technical
difficulties. As seen in a group video call from 2020, Princess Anne encountered some of
the usual intergenerational issues when walking her mother through the online chatting process.
"You should have six people on your screen."
"Yes. Well, I can see four anyway."
"Actually you don't need me. You know what I look like."
At least the queen wasn't holding the camera down in her lap!