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Queen Elizabeth's bodyguard shared a hilarious story of her meeting two Americans on a hike

Can you even imagine?

Photo by Mark de Jong on Unsplash

Queen Elizabeth II passed away after 70 years on the throne of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth.

After seven decades on the throne as Britain's monarch, Queen Elizabeth II passed away on September 8 at the age of 96.

The historic nature of her passing can't be overstated. Elizabeth was Britain's longest-reigning monarch and the second-longest reigning monarch in history (after France's Louis XIV). She wore the crown for a third of the entire history of the United States, which is mindblowing. The vast majority of people alive today have never lived in a world without Queen Elizabeth. Whatever people's feelings may be about the monarchy, British colonialism, royal family drama and the like, her passing marks the end of a long and storied era in human history.

Her title and station may have been powerful and consequential, but at the end of the day, she was a human being. The popular Netflix series "The Crown" helped remind people of that fact, but perhaps nothing showed the fun-loving, human side of Queen Elizabeth like the stories told by those who spent the most time with her.

During the celebration of her 70 years of reign this summer, the queen's former bodyguard Richard "Dick" Griffin told Sky News about a hilarious encounter Elizabeth had with two Americans while hiking in the hills near her castle in Scotland.

The hikers struck up a conversation, and it was immediately clear they didn't recognize that they were talking to Queen Elizabeth. They told her about where they had traveled around Britain, and then one gentleman asked her where she lived.

"Well, I live in London but I've got a holiday home just on the other side of the hills," the queen responded. She told them she'd been coming to the area since she was a little girl, for over 80 years.

The man said if she'd been coming there for 80 years, she must have met the queen at some point. Her response was perfectly quick-witted.

"Well I haven't, but Dick here meets her regularly," she said, gesturing to Griffin.

Griffin's response was equally hilarious, playing along with her and never letting the hikers know that they were shooting the breeze with the queen herself.

Watch Dick Griffin tell the story:

The fact that they asked to get a picture with the bodyguard and not Elizabeth is absolutely hilarious. Imagine their reaction when someone saw their photos and told them. The utter astonishment and hilarity of that moment had to have been epic.

One story among thousands in a life that will not soon be forgotten. Rest in peace, Queen Elizabeth, and condolences to all who loved her.

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A rugby player wanted to propose to his boyfriend, so he got the whole team in on it.

When Fernando Ferreira proposed to his boyfriend, Greg Woodford, at London Pride this year, he had help from his teammates.

The Kings Cross Steelers RFC player got down on one knee after an epic fake-out line-out to the delight of everyone within 20 feet of the pair.

Of course, the whole thing was captured on video:

As a Yank, I'm not super familiar with rugby pre-game rituals, so here's my best play-by-play interpretation of how the proposal went down:

The team gets into their rugby squats...

...and executes a perfect pre-action take-a-knee...

...after which Ferreira sets off on a post-huddle straight-backed nervous walk to the crowd...

...only to slyly pop out a ring instead of kicking a drop goal or whatever it is rugby players do.

This part I understand:

And the crowd goes wild.

(In case it wasn't obvious, Woodford said "yes.")

As the first gay, inclusive rugby union club and a fixture at Pride, the Kings Cross Steelers have a leg up on delightfully merging the traditions of their sport with the institution of holy matrimony.

Same-sex marriage has only been legal in Great Britain since 2014 (the unions are still banned in Northern Ireland), and it's only been 17 years since the Netherlands became the first country to commit to marriage equality. Which means that, as a world, we're just scratching the surface of creative, LGBTQ sports-themed proposals and public displays of affection (the 2016 Olympics had a few pretty neat examples).

Could intra-team question-popping be the next frontier? A point guard scrawling "Will you marry me?" on a bounce pass during a pick-up game? An umpire taping a ring to a replacement baseball he sends a pitcher? A NASCAR pit crewman slipping a note to his driver during a tune-up?  

The sky's the limit.

Congratulations to the happy couple.

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Queen Elizabeth condemned anti-gay discrimination, but she left one big thing out.

The last time Queen Elizabeth II mentioned LGBTQ rights in a Queen's Speech was 2003.

On June 21, 2017, the monarch gave the community a long overdue shoutout.

Photo by Arthur Edwards/Getty Images.

"My ministers will seek to enhance rights and protections in the modern workplace," the queen read from a document prepared by ministers of Prime Minister Theresa May's conservative government. "My government will make further progress to tackle the gender pay gap and discrimination against people on the basis of their race, faith, gender, disability or sexual orientation."

The commitment to end sexual orientation-based workplace harassment was the first explicit call for LGBTQ equality in the address since the queen announced the government's support for civil union protections over a decade ago.  

The speech is delivered annually at the opening of Parliament.

Many cheered the queen for standing up for Britain's LGBTQ citizens.

Critics, however, noticed that the speech failed acknowledge the "T" in LGBTQ.

"We are very concerned no mention was made of tackling discrimination based on gender identity," a spokesperson for British LGBTQ rights organization Stonewall said in a statement to PinkNews.

Prime Minister Theresa May's government has pledged to amend laws that require citizens to undergo intrusive "medical checks," before a legal gender change, but mention of legislation was nowhere in the speech prepared for the queen.

The 2010 Equality Act ban contains only limited protection for transgender workers, including banning employers from discriminating against employees who take leave for the purpose of gender reassignment.

While calling out anti-gay workplace discrimination is a good step, the U.K.'s trans citizens shouldn't have to wait forever to hear vital, validating words of recognition from their queen.

Photo by Chris J Ratcliffe/Getty Images

According to comedian Stephen Fry, upon assenting to the country's 2013 marriage equality legislation, the 91-year-old monarch said:

"Who’d have thought 62 years ago when I came to the throne, I’d be signing something like this? Isn’t it wonderful?'"

If British voters can hold the government  to its commitments, perhaps she'll be celebrating extending fuller equality to people of all genders sooner rather than later.

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‘Heart beating like a washing machine’: Prince Harry describes his intense panic attacks.

After the tragic death of his mother, Prince Harry struggled to seek out the emotional support he needed, which culminated in debilitating panic attacks, he explained in an eye-opening new interview with Forces TV.

Through the royal family's Heads Together campaign, shining a light on the importance of mental health, the prince has recently been more open in sharing his own struggles dealing with the loss of his mother when he was just 12 years old.

This interview, however, marks the first time Harry has gone into detail about his experience as a public figure secretly struggling with panic attacks.

"In my case, every single time I was in any room with loads of people, which is quite often, I was just pouring with sweat, my heart beating — boom, boom, boom, boom — literally, just like a washing machine," he told Forces TV.

"I was like, ‘Oh my God, get me out of here now. Oh, hang on, I can’t get out of here. I have got to just hide it.’”

Photo by Jonathan Brady/WPA Pool-Getty Images.

Harry — whose candid chat with his brother about Princess Diana's death went viral in April — said serving in the armed forces played a pivotal role in helping him confront his mental health struggles.

“Afghanistan was the moment where I was like, ‘right, deal with it,'" he said, noting he spent nearly two decades of struggling in silence before he opened up. “So many people who suffer from depression, anxiety, alcoholism, it can be from when you were younger, and Afghanistan is the trigger to bring it all to light and to deal with that stuff.”

It was his experience serving in Afghanistan that inspired Prince Harry to create the Invictus Games, an international sporting event for ill and wounded armed service members.

Harry's interview with Forces TV was part of his promotional tour for this year's upcoming games, which will be held in Toronto.

"I have seen that the games have given competitors new hope as they recovered from serious injuries and illnesses," he wrote in the Toronto Star last week. "And just as importantly, it’s given their loved ones new hope as they support them along this journey."

Photo by Steve Parsons/Getty Images.

Confronting mental illness and helping wounded warriors might be heavy-hearted endeavors. But the prince isn't one to shy away from adding a little bit of levity to the conversation in hopes it brings more people together.

“So many people are, you know, like slightly mental," he quipped to Forces TV. "Awesome! We are, we are all mental, and we have all got to deal with our stuff."

Need help managing your mental health? Learn how you can get help.  

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