During an appearance on The Sun ’s Royal Exclusive show , former royal protection officer Richard Griffin opened up about a particularly funny moment he witnessed in Balmoral, Scotland. The Queen regularly spent summers at her Scottish residence, and would take long walks in the surrounding countryside.
As one of her protection officers, Griffin accompanied the monarch on many of her walks around Balmoral. "[W]hen there wasn't a shooting day, the staff would make a little picnic... and the two of us would go walking up in the Highlands, sometimes for two, three hours," he explained to the outlet.
According to Griffin, Queen Elizabeth particularly enjoyed getting "a bit of peace and quiet" away from her official royal duties. However, that peace and quiet was interrupted "one sunny August day" when "a couple of hikers" approached the Queen and her protection officer.
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip walking in Balmoral, Scotland in 1972. (Image credit: Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Griffin recalled meeting "an American couple on a walking holiday" who seemingly had no idea who Queen Elizabeth actually was. "[T]he American gentleman hadn't recognised the Queen, which is fair enough, because she had a Barbour jacket on and a headscarf," Griffin told the outlet. "And he started telling Her Majesty where they'd come from America, where they were going to next."
When the tourists asked Elizabeth where she resided, she apparently politely told them, "I live in London, but I've got a holiday home just the other side of the hills." That vacation home, of course, was none other than Balmoral Castle.
As the conversation continued, the Queen was asked if she visited Balmoral very often. "I've been coming up here ever since I was a little girl, so over 80 years," she reportedly told the clueless visitors.
Queen Elizabeth at the North of Scotland Gun Dog Association Open Stake Retriever Trials at Balmoral Castle on October 6, 1967. (Image credit: Central Press/Getty Images)
Despite revealing her affinity for the area, the American tourists were reportedly unaware they were speaking with the monarch. "And you could see him thinking, 'if you've been coming up here for over 80 years, you must have met the Queen,'" Griffin recalled. "And as quick as a flash, she says, 'well, I haven't, but Dick here meets her regularly.'"
Griffin reportedly made a cheeky joke about Her Majesty, telling the tourists that the Queen was sometimes "cantankerous." Before leaving, the visitors requested photographs with both Griffin and the Queen, which the monarch reportedly found quite funny.
"And I remember the Queen saying to me, 'I just hope when he gets back to America and he shows those photographs to his friends, someone will tell him who I am,'" Griffin explained. While it's hard to believe, some lucky tourists really did stumble across the Queen in Scotland, but they had no idea it was her.
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