Gyles Brandreth, a close family friend of the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh, says her Majesty "wouldn't have minded" being an actress. The broadcaster even admitted that the Queen would be the principal boy in Christmas pantomimes at Buckingham Palace.
This touching tribute comes after the tragic news that Queen Elizabeth II died at the age of 96 at Balmoral Castle in Scotland. Speaking on BBC Breakfast, Gyles explained he’d even asked the Queen if she would have liked to act full time.
He told hosts Charlie Stayt and Naga Munchetty: “She was extraordinary and it wasn't simply because she was the Queen, I think it was the nature of her personality. That smile was electric. As the Queen grew older, she was conscious that her face sometimes looked a little bit grumpy unless she was smiling so she did flash that smile, but it was unbelievable.
"It really could light up a room. You saw it in that picture taken only on Tuesday, looking rather impish, clearly an elderly frail person, and yet with a twinkle in her eye. She had a wry sense of humour. I think the only thing that wasn't on public display as much as it might have been over the years was her great sense of humour - never malicious, it was worldly wise."
Gyles continued: "She was a different person for different generations, but my goodness, didn't she do well to keep in touch? She could actually do a fist bump, she didn't like mobile phones at the dining table, but she did know how to use one.
"To see her with Paddington Bear, just this last summer, only a few months ago, was a complete enchantment. I think that she wouldn't have minded being an actress. I once had a conversation with her about Windsor Castle.
"She talked about the war and when she appeared in Christmas pantomimes, and said she'd rather enjoyed being principal boy. I said, 'Would you like to be an actress?''Well, maybe'. We could see that at the end of her life - what a brilliant actress she would have been."
Gyles went on to recall how the Queen "never expressed admiration" for world leaders, but admired Nelson Mandela.
He remarked: “At age 96, she met 15 British prime ministers, when you remember that first prime minister was Winston Churchill, who was born in 1874, the most recent Prime Minister, Liz Truss, was born in 1975 - a span of 100 years.
"She delivered one-to-one with all the world's leaders that she met as the ambassador for the United Kingdom as the head of the Commonwealth - somebody who knew everybody, who literally had met every world leader... every United States president from President Truman onwards.
"She never expressed particular admiration for people even if you tried to test her, though I think she had a particular respect for Nelson Mandela because, as she said, she admired what he did in prison and emerged without rancour.
"She was a person who had no rancour. She was gracious, she was good. She was an example to us all. She was the best of us. And I think that brought out the best in us.”
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