Queen Elizabeth II was known to have a great sense of humour and enjoy having fun with her close friends and family, but did you know she like to perform for them, too?
In a new interview with Yours magazine, Countdown star and the late monarch’s biographer, Gyles Brandreth, shared the details of a very enjoyable meeting he had with the Queen years ago, where she showcased an unexpected talent.
The writer and presenter said: “She once performed George Formby’s When I’m Cleaning Windows for me while strumming an imaginary ukulele!”
Gyles also said: “She was an incredible mimic and told me she’d been inspired by famous female impersonator Florence Desmond, who came to Windsor Castle to entertain the Royal family during the war. The Queen could do all kinds of regional accents.”
The broadcaster, who knew Her Majesty for decades, was also friends with the late Prince Philip.
In his biography of the monarch, Elizabeth: An Intimate Portrait, he writes that he heard that Her Majesty was battling a form of bone marrow cancer, called myeloma and that she bravely faced the health condition during her final months.
In the book, he claims: “I had heard that the Queen had a form of myeloma — bone marrow cancer — which would explain her tiredness and weight loss and those ‘mobility issues’ we were often told about during the last year or so of her life.”
The condition doesn’t have a cure but there are multiple treatments that can extend life for many years. The official cause of death for Her Majesty was old age, with the death certificate saying that she had passed away at 3:10pm.
Other details in the book include that the Queen suffered from bouts of “low energy” following the death of her husband in 2021 and that she enjoyed watching the crime drama Line of Duty in her spare time.
