I had secret walks with the Queen – US tourists didn’t recognise her & her reaction was priceless

THE Queen was one of the most recognisable women in the world before she passed away – but there were some comical occasions when people didn’t clock who she was.

One of her former protection officers Richard Griffin shared what happened when an American tourist didn’t clock her identity when they met near Balmoral.

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Getty

Speaking on The Sun’s Royal Exclusive show, Richard shared: “The Queen would go to Balmoral, which was definitely her favourite residence, late July, and she’d stay there until early October.

“And police officers used to do two weeks there and two weeks back in London.

“And normally on my two weeks, every Thursday, when there wasn’t a shooting day, the staff would make a little picnic, I’d put it in my backpack, and the two of us would go walking up in the Highlands, sometimes for two, three hours.

“And it was the one day of the week, she got a bit of peace and quiet, she didn’t have red boxes, and private secretaries chasing her, and we were walking along one sunny August day, and there’s a couple of hikers walking towards us.”

Richard shared how Her Majesty would always stop and say hello to people she walked past.

He continued: “And as it happened, it was an American couple on a walking holiday.

“And it was obvious from the moment we stopped that the American gentleman hadn’t recognised the Queen, which is fair enough, because she had a Barbour jacket on and a headscarf.

“And he started telling Her Majesty where they’d come from America, where they were going to next .

“And I could see it coming. ‘Where do you live?’

“Well, she said, ‘I live in London, but I’ve got a holiday home just the other side of the hills’.”

Richard shared how the tourist had asked the Queen: “How often do you come up here?”

The police officer added: “Well, she said, ‘I’ve been coming up here ever since I was a little girl, so over 80 years.’

“And you could see him thinking, ‘if you’ve been coming up here for over 80 years, you must have met the Queen.’

“And as quick as a flash, she says, ‘well, I haven’t, but Dick here meets her regularly.’”

THE SUN

Richard shared how the monarch cheekily put him on the spot, and the man was quick to ask “wow, you meet the Queen, what’s she like?”

Recalling the comical moment, he said: “And I couldn’t resist it, because I knew she had a sense of humour.

“Well, she’s very cantankerous at times.

“And then she gave me this look, and I said, ‘she’s got a wonderful sense of humour.’”

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Richard laughed as he shared how the man dug an even deeper hole for himself before he departed.

The protection officer told The Sun’s Royal Editor Matt Wilkinson: “Anyway, before I could stop him, he comes across, puts his arm around my shoulder, gives his camera to the Queen, and asks her to take a picture of the two of us.

“And she duly does, and then we swap places, and I take a photograph of them with the Queen.

I couldn’t resist it, because I knew she had a sense of humour

Richard Griffin The Queen's former protection officer

“And we wave goodbye, and we never let on.

“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’.”

Balmoral Castle

BALMORAL Castle is a large estate house in Royal Deeside, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, near the village of Crathie.

The vast property is situated 6.2 miles west of Ballater and 6.8 miles east of Braemar.

The estate and castle are privately owned by the Royal Family and are not the property of the Crown.

The existing house on site was found to be too small, so the royals purchased the estate in 1852.

In its place, the construction of the current Balmoral Castle was commissioned.

William Smith of Aberdeen was the architect, although his designs were amended by Prince Albert.

Historic Scotland classified the castle as a category A listed building.

The new castle was completed in 1856, with the old castle demolished shortly thereafter.

Successive Royal Family members added to the Balmoral Estate, and it now covers an area of approximately 50,000 acres.

As well as the main castle, there are 150 other buildings on the estate, including Birkhall, the estate of King Charles , Craigowan Lodge, and several other cottages.

Balmoral is a working estate, including grouse moors, forestry, and farmland, as well as managed herds of deer, Highland cattle, and ponies.

Since 1987, an illustration of the castle has been featured on the reverse side of £100 notes issued by the Royal Bank of Scotland.

The crimson-coloured notes are the largest denomination of banknotes issued by The Royal Bank of Scotland and are still in production.