The Queen of England was a deeply beloved monarch, but it's clear to see from pictures that the 96-year-old royal played another, very different role throughout her life - that of granny. And what a wonderful granny she was! From teaching them about royal protocol to always being ready to share a laugh and a joke, here's why the Queen was a fantastic granny...
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She spoiled them rotten
Kate Middleton previously revealed that the Queen liked to spoil her grandchildren, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, when they stayed at one of her (many) homes! Speaking in the documentary The Queen at Ninety, she said: "She always leaves a little gift or something in their room when they go and stay and that shows the love for her family."
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Prince Harry also revealed that Her Majesty treated little Archie to a waffle maker for a Christmas special, which they use to make him treats every morning. Chatting to James Corden, the Prince explained: "My grandmother asked us what Archie wanted for Christmas, and Meg said a waffle maker. So she sent us a waffle maker for Archie, so breakfast now Meg makes up a beautiful organic mix, in the waffle maker, flip it, out it comes. He loves it."
She loved having a cuddle with her great-grandchildren
In Harry’s statement following the Queen’s death, he revealed how much she enjoyed giving her great-grandchildren, Archie and Lilibet, a cuddle when she met them. The statement read: "Granny, while this final parting brings us great sadness, I am forever grateful for all of our first meetings - from my earliest childhood memories with you, to meeting you for the first time as my Commander-in-Chief, to the first moment you met my darling wife and hugged your beloved great-grandchildren."
She put her family at ease in her presence
The Queen and Meghan Markle visited Cheshire together for the former Suits actress's first ever official engagement without Harry, and the pair seemed very much at ease in each other's presence as the Monarch smiled and joked with Meghan, leading the new Duchess of Sussex to laugh with her new grandmother-in-law.
She supported the family with their royal duties
Being a royal and never putting a toe out of line can't be easy, but Kate has previously said that Prince William's grandmother was always very supportive when it comes to royal engagements. Speaking in a documentary, the Duchess of Cambridge said: "The most memorable engagement for me was an away-day to Leicester. I went without William, so I was rather apprehensive about that. She was very supportive.
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"The fact she took the time to make sure that I was happy and looked after for that particular occasion, which probably in everything that she's doing is a very small element, it shows just how caring she is really."
She loved to see what they were up to
The Queen took a helicopter to her grandson's home in Kensington Palace to meet baby Prince Louis. Her Majesty met the youngster when he was just nine days old, showing how dedicated she is to her family – particularly since her husband, the late Prince Philip, was in recovery from a hip operation at the time. Even during the COVID pandemic, the Queen would be sure to reach out to her great-grandchildren, as Prince Harry revealed that she contacted them over Zoom to chat to Prince Archie over in California.
She had fun with them at Christmas
Christmas with the Queen must be fabulous, and Her Majesty previously opened up about enjoying the festive time of the year with some of her great-grandchildren, including Savannah and Isla Phillips, Mia Tindall, Princes George and Louis, and Princess Charlotte.
Chatting about the youngsters during The Queen's Green Planet documentary, she said: "Yes, that is always the problem, is the children love knocking those [decorations] off. Well my great-grandchildren do, anyway they enjoy themselves." She added that the little ones also decorate their own baubles to hang on the tree, saying: "And the great thing is to make them decorate it and they're a bit more careful."
She occasionally broke royal protocol for them
A lovely moment between the Queen and her grandson, Prince Harry, was when she inspected the Sovereign's Parade at the Royal Military Academy in Sandhurst back in 2006, and couldn't help but grin at her grandson, who was one of the cadets in the regiment, who similarly struggled to keep a straight face during his granny's visit.
She made their loved ones feel welcome
Despite their difficulties with life in the royal family, Meghan has always fondly spoke about how welcoming the Queen was to her when they first met, while Prince Harry joked about how calm his grandmother's famous corgis were in Meghan's presence.
Speaking in their engagement interview, she said: "It's incredible, I think, you know, to be able to meet her through his lens, not just with his honour and respect for her as the monarch, but the love that he has for her as his grandmother, all of those layers have been so important for me so that when I met her I had such a deep understanding and of course incredible respect for being able to have that time with her. And she's an incredible woman."
She taught them the royal ropes
Princess Charlotte was particularly adorable during Trooping the Colour 2018 when she stopped clapping after noticing that her great-grandmother was waving to the crowds, and swiftly began waving herself. Chuckling at the cute moment, Kate told her husband, Prince William, about their daughter's antics before leaning over to tell the Queen, who also laughed and smiled at the three-year-old.
She was known to give them a swift telling off
Being a good granny isn't all about treats, sometimes you need to give them a quick telling off. Prince William has been in trouble with his grandma before, notably at the Trooping the Colour when she was spotted telling him to stand up as he crouched by Prince George.
The future King also spoke about an incident as a child where he and his cousin, Peter Phillips, got in trouble for narrowly avoiding seriously hurting his other cousin, Zara. He said: "The earliest one I can remember is Peter and I were on a quad bike in Balmoral and we were chasing Zara around, who was on a go-kart, and we managed to herd Zara into a lamppost and the lamppost came down and nearly squashed her. I remember my grandmother was the first person out of Balmoral running across the lawn in her kilt and came over and gave us the most almighty [expletive]."
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She looked after the pets
Thanks to her own affinity to her group of corgi dogs, the Queen was clearly a huge animal lover, and so seemed quite happy to take care of Meghan Markle's pet beagle, Guy, over the royal wedding weekend. Little Guy was spotted riding in the car with the Queen in Windsor, and it is thought that the pet pooch might even have been at the wedding ceremony.
She had many affectionate nicknames
According to Kate, her children affectionately called the Monarch 'Gan-Gan', and Princes William and Harry affectionately called her 'Granny'. According to the Daily Mail, when William was a youngster he gave his grandmother the nickname 'Gary', as he couldn't quite pronounce 'Granny' yet, causing confusion during an incident where a little William called out for 'Gary' after a fall, only for the Queen to go and comfort him.
She had her secret favourites
The Queen might have had her favourites, but don't we all?! According to Kate, Her Majesty was particularly fond of little Charlotte. The Duchess of Cambridge said: "The Queen was very pleased that she was a girl. [She] is very fond of Charlotte and takes an interest in what she gets up to."
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