The queen might seem like a polite and demure lady, but she's definitely someone you don't
want to cross.
What rock star did seem to oppose knighting?
And which members of her own family does she have issues with?
In 2003, Rolling Stones frontman, Mick Jagger, was knighted as Sir Michael Philip Jagger
after having been nominated by then-prime minister, Tony Blair.
However, the queen was not present at the knighting ceremony.
Instead, she was at the hospital undergoing knee surgery.
Moreover, it's been rumored that the queen may, in fact, have chosen that specific date
for her surgery for the express purpose of giving herself an excuse to not be on hand
at the ceremony.
Apparently, the queen had numerous reasons to oppose Jagger's nomination.
These include Jagger's apparent disinterest in charitable causes, despite his massive
personal fortune, and his having lived abroad since the early 1970s.
Add that to the fact that the musician had been outspoken on multiple occasions regarding
his disdain for the queen, whom he supposedly referred to as "chief witch," and the monarchy
in general.
But according to the Daily Mail, the most likely reason for the queen's dislike of Jagger
was the scandalous nature of Jagger's relationship with her younger sister, Princess Margaret.
If you've seen "The Crown," you may recall the episode in which Queen Elizabeth hosts
Mr. and Mrs. John F. Kennedy for dinner at Buckingham Palace, only to learn afterwards
that the First Lady had found her "incurious, unintelligent, and unremarkable."
"That she found Buckingham Palace second-rate, dilapidated, and sad, like a neglected provincial
hotel."
But let's not forget that "The Crown" is historical fiction.
Sure, it's possible that Jackie was unimpressed by the queen's sense of style.
It's also possible that the queen might have sensed the same or heard it through the grapevine.
Certainly, this would present a good reason for Her Majesty to feel annoyed by the American
celeb.
However, there's no evidence to suggest that's the way things actually went.
That said, it's quite possible the queen found Jackie Kennedy annoying, but for other reasons.
According to author Sarah Bradford's Jackie Kennedy biography, "America's Queen," in the
days leading up to the dinner, the queen had been pressured into also extending an invitation
to Mrs. Kennedy's sister, Lee Radziwill, despite having had reservations about doing so, partially
because of Mrs. Radziwill's divorced status.
According to Town & Country, the queen “had her revenge,”' at least according to Jackie's
friend, writer Gore Vidal.
As that story goes, the queen made a point of not inviting the two people whom Mrs. Kennedy
had specifically requested to be included at the dinner, Princess Marina of Greece and
Denmark, and the queen's own sister, Princess Margaret.
On August 31, 1997, Princess Diana died in a car crash in Paris.
In the days that followed, Queen Elizabeth remained at Balmoral Castle with her grandsons
and spoke to no members of the media, as many around the world were reacting with understandable
shock to Diana's death.
The queen was criticized as a result, her reticence being blamed on years of resentment
over the marital discord between Princess Diana and Prince Charles, not to mention the
fact that Diana aired personal grievances she had with Charles and the royal family
to journalists.
However, according to Ingrid Seward, author of the book, "The Queen and Di," the queen's
silence was reflective of her grief over the terrible loss, as opposed to bad blood between
her and her former daughter-in-law.
However, that does not mean that the queen did not find herself, at times, annoyed or
at least put off somewhat by Diana.
Apparently the princess' openness about her emotions and how she chose to express them,
often to the media, was thought of as most unbecoming by the monarch.
Seward also reported that Diana paid regular visits to the queen in which she apparently
cried "nonstop," and in time, the queen reportedly came to "dread" the meetings.
Queen Elizabeth is the United Kingdom's Head of State, but the terms of the U.K.'s constitutional
monarchy requires that she remain strictly neutral with regard to all political matters.
According to the royal family's official website,
"The Queen does not vote or stand for election."
Nevertheless, the Express reported that in 2003, the queen was said to have expressed
disdain for Russian President Vladimir Putin during his historic visit to the U.K.
It was Russia's first official state visit to the U.K. in 125 years.
As the story goes, Lord David Blunkett, who was the U.K.'s Home Secretary at the time
of Putin's visit, and who has been blind since birth, uses a guide dog.
During a 2019 episode of the BBC's "Any Questions" program, Lord Blunkett recalled how his then-guide
dog reacted to meeting President Putin by barking loudly.
And "very" loudly at that, according to Blunkett.
So loudly, in fact, that Blunkett felt obliged to apologize afterwards to the queen.
And what Blunkett reportedly recalled the queen's response as,
"Dogs have interesting instincts, don't they?"
No one would deny the bad blood between Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and her granddaughter-in-law,
Meghan Markle.
Meghan is of course married to Prince Harry, and she retains the Duchess of Sussex title
despite moving to the U.S. and stepping down from her duties as a senior member of the
royal family.
At the very least, Markle's apparent interest in politics would likely be somewhat vexing
for the queen.
The monarch's role requires her to remain neutral on political issues, a requirement
that extends to the rest of the royal family as well.
As recently as October 20, 2021, Markle was known to have written directly to U.S. Senate
leaders Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi, "urging" them to pass legislation requiring paid leave
for working parents, at least during the pandemic.
The letter has prompted some royal fans and supporters to call for the duchess to be stripped
of her title.
Whether the queen will ever remove Meghan's title remains to be seen, but it is becoming
clear that Queen Elizabeth II has had numerous reasons to be annoyed at the former actor.
For instance, Markle has spoken openly about her time within the royal family, and most
of her revelations have been negative.
For her part, the queen has proclaimed her sadness over her lack of connection with her
great-grandson Archie, and presumably, her newborn great-granddaughter Lilibet, according
to royal expert Ingrid Seward.
There could be any number of reasons why someone might find former U.S. President Donald Trump
to be annoying.
However, it would appear that Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II has her own unique reason,
and it happens to be personal.
During a June 2019 visit with the queen in connection with the D-Day commemorations,
President Trump did permanent damage to one of the queen's prized possessions, according
to the Express.
That prized possession was the Buckingham Palace lawn.
Apparently, The Sunday Times reported,
"[Trump] insisted on flying into Buckingham Palace by helicopter twice in one day."
Of course, the palace lawn was not meant to serve as a helicopter landing pad, and, accordingly,
"[The helicopter left] scorch marks and craters in the grass."
According to the Express, the next day, when Australian prime minister Scott Morrison paid
a visit to the queen, the queen brought him into the gardens to show him what Trump had
done.
A source close to Morrison says the queen told the prime minister,
"Come and look at my lawn.
It's ruined."
Nor was this the first time that the queen was heard deriding Trump's helicopter usage.
One year earlier, in the documentary, "Queen's Green Planet," the queen was captured on film,
joking around with Sir David Attenborough that the sound of a noisy aircraft above reminded
her of Trump.
Obviously, Queen Elizabeth is supposed to remain neutral on political topics.
However, it appears that the queen may have had a difficult time remaining neutral during
the 11 years in which the late politician Margaret Thatcher served as British prime
minister.
The Sunday Times once suggested that,
"[The queen was] dismayed by many policies of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher."
However, the queen's feelings about Thatcher, who served from 1979 until 1990, were reportedly
complicated.
According to Biography, it wasn't just because of their differences in opinion, but also
because of personal tensions that arose between the two women during their weekly scheduled
meetings to discuss governmental matters.
The meetings, which would often begin with Thatcher arriving early and the queen making
her wait, were allegedly rarely productive.
"I expect to be here on Tuesday afternoon, and possibly even Thursday afternoon."
According to Thatcher biographer Charles Moore, the queen made the prime minister nervous.
Nor did it help that the women did not share the same sense of humor, with the queen known
for her "dry wit," and Thatcher apparently not having much of a sense of humor at all.
In 2015, "The Queen and Mrs. Thatcher: An Inconvenient Relationship" went so far as
to say that the queen would sometimes mock Thatcher's accent.
In July 1986, the second-born son of the queen, Prince Andrew, married Sarah Ferguson, also
known as "Fergie," in a lavish Westminster Abbey ceremony.
Vanity Fair wrote in 1987,
"In the year since her wedding, the rambunctious redheaded Duchess of York has charmed the
Queen."
Indeed, the queen and Fergie seemed to share a close bond.
That bond began to crumble, however, when the Yorks announced their separation in 1992.
According to the 2019 documentary, "Royals at War,"
"The Queen was not only saddened by the break-up of the marriage, she was also angry at the
way the Duchess handled the issue."
"Now, it's not a fairytale, it's real life."
But that was just the beginning.
Just a few months later, intimate photographs emerged, suggesting Fergie's romantic involvement
with an American businessman.
Even worse, the photographs appeared to show the businessman sucking on Fergie's toes.
Like other members of the royal family, the queen was reportedly scandalized by the photographs.
However, the queen was reportedly so "furious" that she demanded that Fergie leave the royal
family compound in Balmoral immediately.
Apparently, the queen's disgust and annoyance with Fergie did not abate until at least 2013.
What is unclear is whether their renewed relationship will continue in the wake of Prince Andrew's
resignation from the royal family.
When Prince Charles married his longtime love, Camilla Parker Bowles in 2005, one royal who
was notably not in attendance at the actual ceremony was Charles' mother, Her Majesty
Queen Elizabeth II.
The "official reason" was that the marriage went against the tenets of the Church of England.
As The Telegraph reported in 2005,
"The Queen has let it be known that the reason she will not be attending the wedding of Prince
of Wales is because she is putting her duties as the head of the Church of England before
family feelings."
Specifically, the queen felt that her position as the head of the Church of England precluded
her from attending any wedding between two divorcees whose extramarital affair had contributed
to the breakup of both of their marriages.
However, a 2018 biography of Prince Charles by Tom Bower, "Rebel Prince: The Power and
Passion and Defiance of Prince Charles," gave another explanation.
Bower suggested that while the queen's church-related concerns were legitimate, the "real" issue
may have been the queen's annoyance with Camilla herself, as well as the couple's extra-marital
antics.
As Bower writes, one night, after several martinis, the queen told Charles in no uncertain
terms that she could never forgive Camilla for interfering in Charles' marriage, going
so far as to call Camilla "wicked."
All of that being said, the queen appears to have become more friendly with Camilla
in recent years.
Boris Yeltsin was the first President of post-Soviet Russia, serving from 1991 until 1999, a mere
eight-year span within Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II's now near-70 years on the throne.
In 1992, just one year into his term, Yeltsin paid a visit to London, and while he was there,
he apparently got a bit "tactile" with the queen, according to formerly classified government
papers from the 1980s and 1990s.
Specifically, on two occasions, Yeltsin was observed trying to grab the queen's arm.
On another, he reportedly tried to encircle the queen's waist.
Needless to say, this did not go over well with either the queen or anyone who witnessed
Yeltsin's behavior.
The Daily Mail wrote,
"The monarch skillfully sidestepped [Yeltsin's] attentions."
In fact, palace officials apparently "suggested" that, going forward, Russian nationals calling
upon the queen should be advised that she is not to be "handled" physically.
In later years, the queen could be heard doing impressions of Yeltsin, as well as Margaret
Thatcher, according to Vanity Fair.
Check out one of our newest videos right here!
Plus, even more List videos about the royal family are coming soon.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel and hit the bell so you don't miss a single one.