Queen Elizabeth's "Were you naked?" comment to former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is reportedly revealed in a new royal biography.
If there’s one thing the late Queen Elizabeth was known for throughout her 70-year reign it was her dry sense of humour and quick wit. Never one to shy away from making a joke when the situation allowed for it, many of Her Majesty’s hilarious responses have become legendary. Most fans will never have got to hear her best lines in person, but a new biography has revealed Queen Elizabeth’s "Were you naked?" comment and this is surely set to become another iconic turn-of-phrase.
Royal author Robert Hardman’s biography, Charles III: New King. New Court. The Inside Story, has reportedly shed light on a bizarre exchange between Queen Elizabeth and former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson at a meeting.
As per OK!, the book apparently details how Boris once began to tell the late monarch about a dream he’d had in which he was late for a meeting with her. In response, it’s claimed Queen Elizabeth asked, "Were you naked?", whilst Robert Hardman supposedly added that she’d "heard it all before".
The Queen and Boris Johnson met many times during her reign and this reported comment from Queen Elizabeth highlights her perfect use of humour in her day-to-day life. However, it’s far from the only witty turn-of-phrase from her that’s been remarked upon over the years. Her Majesty was particularly famous for not taking herself too seriously and this shone through in her equally brilliant comment to a group of tourists at Balmoral.
Whilst she might have always dressed impeccably with matching hats and her best winter coats over dresses in colder months and dresses and jackets in the spring and summer, at Balmoral the Queen liked to wear more low-key outfits. So much so that the tourists didn’t recognise her when she was out walking with former royal protection officer Richard Griffin.
According to The Times, he revealed that the tourists asked her if she’d ever met the Queen, to which she apparently replied, "No, but this policeman has", leaving them hilariously none-the-wiser.
Meanwhile, Prince William and Prince Harry previously disclosed that Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip both "loved it" when things went wrong at engagements. Speaking in the BBC’s Prince Philip: The Royal Family Remembers documentary in 2021, Prince William shared that they used to "chuckle" together if mishaps happened.
"Both my grandparents love that, because you can imagine they live a life where everything has to go right the whole time, so when things go wrong, they both chuckle an awful lot. Everyone else gets mortally embarrassed, but they love it," he declared.
Prince Harry agreed with this, explaining, "There’s everybody doing their absolute best because 'oh, the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh are coming, let’s make sure we get everything absolutely right'. Yet the two of them are going ‘I wonder if something’s going to go wrong this year! How exciting!’"
The revelation of Queen Elizabeth’s comment she supposedly made to Boris Johnson is certainly in-keeping with these memories of her as a monarch with a great sense of humour, who wasn’t determined for everything to be perfect all the time.
