Royals
Queen Elizabeth Likes A Cardboard Cutout, Too
And she has a prime example at Windsor Castle.
The way in which the royal family live their lives never ceases to interest us, whether it be learning about their royal pancake recipe, bedtime routines, or their preferred takeaways (Prince Harry loves a Nando’s). But living in Palace (or multiple palaces) seems perhaps the most alien concept of all. However, a recent event, hosted at Windsor Castle afforded us a rare insight into the Queen’s rather surprising taste in interiors.
Seeming a far cry from the expensive, ornate and stately décor we’re used to seeing photographed at Windsor Castle, it appears that Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II is just like us — she loves a bit of tat. It turns out that next to the entrance of a room in Windsor Castle sits a cardboard cutout of a Queen’s guardsman, fully decked in the iconic black bearskin cap, scarlet tunic, and shoulder strip, holding a real tray for Her Majesty’s drinks. Though she was recently advised to give up her daily martini, the cardboard guardsman was stood to attention and ready for service.
The revelation came when she was filmed welcoming the incoming defence services secretary Major General Eldon Millar and his predecessor Rear Admiral James Macleod back in February. Metro posted a video, showing not just the Queen and her guests, but the many family photographs she has framed around the room, too.
Among the pictures on show is a portrait taken by Kate Middleton at Balmoral, where she and Prince Philip are surrounded by seven of their great-grandchildren. In another picture, which has not been made public, the Queen is sitting, holding a baby which could be Archie, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s son. The Queen is yet to meet Lilibet, the couple’s daughter, who was born in California in 2021.
