Reality TV Contestant Shares Little Known Story About a Hilarious Encounter Queen Elizabeth Once Had in an Elevator
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12/02/2024 01:28 PM
Though she was done up in "crowns, gowns, everything" for the State Opening of Parliament, the late monarch showed her humanity
A priest-turned-reality television contestant shared a funny anecdote about the late Queen Elizabeth on I'm a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here!
Reverend Richard Coles — who, in addition to being a priest and reality TV contestant, is also a writer and radio presenter who first shot to fame as part of the 1980s band the Communards — said in a clip posted to I'm a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here!'s Instagram account that a certain story about Queen Elizabeth still makes him laugh up to the present day.
"I heard a great story about the late Queen," Coles said in the clip. "It was a State Opening of Parliament, so she got all robed up and everything to go into the chamber. But normally there's a flight of stairs you have to go up to get there from the Robing Room, and she couldn't manage that, so they thought they would put her in a lift." (Lift is British parlance for elevator.)
"So there she was with Prince Philip, and they were all absolutely done up — crowns, gowns, everything," Coles continued. "And the Sergeant at Arms, whoever it was, took them into the lift, but he pressed the wrong button. Instead of going up to the Lords, it went down to [the] service sector."
"And the door opened and there was a woman, a cleaner there, with a trolley," he added. "She didn't look up, she just went, 'Budge up!' and walked in and pushed the Queen and Prince Philip to the back of the lift! And then she looked up and went, 'F—king hell.' "
Cole started laughing, as did fellow contestants sitting with him. Then came the kicker: "And the Queen invited her to tea at Buckingham Palace," Cole said.
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Queen Elizabeth II (L) sits beside her husband Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, as she delivers the Queen's Speech during the State Opening of Parliament in London on May 18, 2016Related: Prince Harry Shares What He Misses About Queen Elizabeth—Including Her 'Cheeky Sense of Humor'
Queen Elizabeth was famous for her sense of humor and sharp wit, which her grandson Prince Harry spoke to PEOPLE about following her death at age 96 on Sept. 8, 2022.
"My grandmother and I were very close, and we very much did have a special relationship," he said. "I miss her dearly, as well as her cheeky sense of humor and quick wit."
"I will forever cherish every memory I had with her," he added.
STEVE PARSONS/POOL/AFP via Getty
Queen Elizabeth II (L) and Britain's Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, leave St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle, Windsor, west of London, on May 18, 2019, after the wedding of Lady Gabriella Windsor and Thomas KingstonRelated: What Queen Elizabeth Is Really Like — and What Her Friends Felt 'The Crown' Got Wrong
One of Queen Elizabeth's many biographers, Robert Hardman, said of the monarch before her death, "those who know her well talk about her sense of humor and how she's a very upbeat and positive person."
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Of The Crown, the Netflix series that was focused on Queen Elizabeth throughout her life, "A lot of her friends and close staff felt that [The Crown] showed her being miserable all the time. And that's just not how it is."
