The late Queen once cracked a joke when an artist asked her to sit still

She certainly knew how to have a laugh.

Queen Elizabeth II seen driving her Range Rover car as she attends day 2 of the Royal Windsor Horse Show in Home Park, Windsor Castle on July 2, 2021 in Windsor, England.
WINDSOR, UNITED KINGDOM - JULY 02: (EMBARGOED FOR PUBLICATION IN UK NEWSPAPERS UNTIL 24 HOURS AFTER CREATE DATE AND TIME) Queen Elizabeth II seen driving her Range Rover car as she attends day 2 of the Royal Windsor Horse Show in Home Park, Windsor Castle on July 2, 2021 in Windsor, England. (Photo by Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images)
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Iris Goldsztajn
By Iris Goldsztajn
published

She certainly knew how to have a laugh.

It was easy to see that Queen Elizabeth II had a fantastic sense of humour, if only by looking at the cheeky sparkle in her eyes.

The portrait artist Christian Furr witnessed the Queen's cheekiness first-hand when she sat for him to paint her, and she got a little distracted.

"I remember I was in the sitting once, and I was concentrating on something and thinking, 'I've got to get this right,'" Christian told OK!.

"And the Queen was kind of bopping around listening to some music outside that she [was] clearly enjoying."

Can we just pause here to say how much we would have loved to see this? Anyway, Christian went on to explain what he did to make sure he could get the painting right, and shared the Queen's hilarious response.

"And I said, 'Oh, do you mind keeping your head still?'" the artist recalled. "So she sort of looked at me and she said, 'Isn't it still already?' But she was so funny, she had a brilliant sense of humour."

As OK! points out, Elizabeth's humour shined through beautifully when she filmed a skit with Daniel Craig's 007 for the London Olympics opening ceremony, during her Diamond Jubilee year, and then again when she filmed the heartwarming scene with a CGI Paddington Bear coming to tea for her recent Platinum Jubilee.

Though she had to remain impartial in her role as the monarch, she would also show her personality through certain pointed choices of clothing, such as when she wore a brooch gifted to her by President Obama during President Trump's state visit.

And you might also have heard about the gag gifts members of the Royal Family give one another for Christmas, in lieu of flashier presents (never forget the time Princess Kate reportedly gave a single Prince Harry a "Grow Your Own Girlfriend" kit).

The Queen was of course a full participant in this tradition. Prince William reportedly once gave her a pair of slippers with her face on them.

Oh, to be a fly on the wall during a royal gift-giving!

Iris Goldsztajn
Iris Goldsztajn
Iris Goldsztajn is a celebrity and royal news writer for Marie Claire.
As a London-based freelance journalist, she writes about wellness, relationships, pop culture, beauty and more for the likes of InStyle, Women's Health, Bustle, Stylist and Red. Aside from her quasi-personal investment in celebs' comings and goings, Iris is especially interested in debunking diet culture and destigmatising mental health struggles.
Previously, she was the associate editor for Her Campus, where she oversaw the style and beauty news sections, as well as producing gift guides, personal essays and celebrity interviews. There, she worked remotely from Los Angeles, after returning from a three-month stint as an editorial intern for Cosmopolitan.com in New York.
As an undergraduate at the University of California, Los Angeles, she interned at goop and C California Style and served as Her Campus' national style and LGBTQ+ editor. Iris was born and raised in France by a French father and an English mother. Her Spotify Wrapped is riddled with country music and One Direction, and she can typically be found eating her body weight in cheap chocolate.
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