As the longest-reigning monarch in British history, the late Queen was celebrated not just for her immense sense of duty, but also for providing a steadfast presence that unified people across the globe.

Yet, the cherished Royal was equally loved for her sharp wit and sense of humor, a trait well-known to her grandson, Prince Harry.

In a bid to promote his second Invictus Games, set to take place in Orlando, Florida, in May 2016, Prince Harry sought the comedic prowess of his grandmother, resulting in one of the most viral Royal videos ever.

Royal biographer Valentine Low, in his book “Courtiers,” recounted how just days before Harry was set to leave for the games, he received a video from then-President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama, with whom Harry had developed a warm rapport during his visits to the United States.

The video featured a playful scene where Michelle and Barack stood with arms crossed, flanked by three service members in uniform.

Michelle playfully addressed Prince Harry, saying, “Hey, Prince Harry, remember when you told us to ‘Bring it’ at the Invictus Games?”

Her husband then proceeds to point his finger at the camera, stating: ‘Careful what you wish for!’

Then, behind the pair, one of the servicemen is seen doing a mic drop, before issuing the simple word: ‘Boom’.

Recalling the moment Harry, who was sat alongside the foundation’s trustee Nick Loughran, both watched the video, Low said: ‘Both Harry and Loughran thought that was brilliant. Their immediate reaction was that they had to think of something good in response. 

‘Harry said: “I’m going to have to get the Queen involved aren’t I?”‘

And so, that night, Harry and Loughran, alongside his private secretary Edward Lane Fox and Kensington Palace communications secretary Jason Knauf, were said to have ‘thrown a few ideas around’ about a possible response video. 

But when the trio asked the Duke if he would consider enlisting the help of the Monarch, Harry was said to have been ‘nervous’ at the prospect of broaching the subject. 

‘I don’t want to put her in an awkward position’, the Prince said, according to Low.

‘I don’t know if it is going to belittle anything she does’. 

As a result of his anxieties, Harry sought out the advice of the late Queen’s private secretary, Sir Christopher Geidt. 

Yet, he was met with a clear and seemingly rather unsympathetic response: ‘If you want to ask the Queen, ask the Queen’, he said.

But the Prince had little to fear, with his grandmother ‘more than willing to help’, according to Low.

Just two days later, Harry, Loughran, Lane Fox and Knauf all travelled to meet a film crew at Windsor Castle, with a source recalling: ‘The plan was for Harry to have tea with his grandmother, explain what we would like to do, then at the end we would come in and do what we had to do.

‘Harry had driven over himself from Kensington Palace. The traffic was terrible, he was already a bit late, and was nervous how it was going to go.’

The incredible 40-second video was shot in just two takes, with Harry and the late Queen captured sitting on the sofa together looking at pictures of the Invictus competitors in the year before. 

The pair were then shown being interrupted by a call from Michelle Obama (in actuality, Loughran’s number that had been deliberately changed to FLOTUS).

Sat alongside her grandson in a pale blue blouse and darker blue cardigan, the Queen, who donned a smile, said with impeccable comedic timing, ‘Oh really… please!’

Then, it was Harry’s turn to finish off the comedic clip – ‘Boom’, he said, before doing his own mic drop.

According to Low, after the filming for the video had ceased, the Queen had reportedly said: ‘Oh this is rather fun’, before adding: ‘People should ask me to do these more often’.

 Meanwhile a source, who was witness to the incredible moment, described the late Queen as ‘wonderful’ and ‘obviously quite happy’ with the final product.

Adding that she had ‘wanted to support her grandson’, they said: ‘She wanted to support the cause, and was happy for having some fun in the process’.

When the video was shared online by the Obamas, there was a short online silence from Harry, with many speculating how the Prince would respond to the so-called ‘threat’ by the Obamas about the Americans winning.

Michelle took to Twitter (now X) to share the video, posting: Hey, @KensingtonRoyal! Are you ready for @InvictusOrlando? Game on’

Shortly after, Harry quipped back with a confident response that read: ‘Wow @FLOTUS and @POTUS, some @weareinvictus fighting talk there! You can dish it out, but can you take it? – H’

But he then appeared to be concerned about the possible threat of competition from the Americans as he added: ‘@FLOTUS @POTUS How on Earth am I going to top that?’

While Royal fanatics waited with baited breath to see how the ensuing playful interaction would unfold, the Prince was busy preparing his pre-planned trick. 

Less than an hour after the Obama’s clip was posted, Harry uploaded the iconic skit video with his grandmother, which was immediately met with delight by Royal fans on social media. 

Indeed, a version of the video uploaded to The Royal Family’s official YouTube channel, has amassed more than 1.3million views, while commenters online praised the Queen for her ‘sense of fun’ and declared: ‘I think Prince Harry just won that round’.

To Low, the Queen’s eager willingness to be involved in the video was far from a surprise, but rather indicative of the fact that ‘the Queen has more of a sense of fun than she usually gets credit for’.

Certainly, one just has to cast their mind back to four years prior, when the late Monarch gamely ‘parachuted’ in the Olympic stadium for the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games following a meeting with James Bond at Buckingham Palace. 

The comedy stint, which played during the ceremony, showed the Queen, who was then aged 86, being picked up at Buckingham Palace by Daniel Craig, playing James Bond, and then being ‘parachuted’ in the stadium for the opening ceremony.

The recorded sequence opened at Buckingham Palace, where a tuxedo-wearing Craig as 007 was presented to the Queen by her personal footman as she was writing a letter and training her corgis Monty, Willow and Holly to roll over.

After greeting the fictitious spy with an ‘Evening, Mr Bond,’ the Queen, wearing a glitzy pink dress, was escorted out of the Palace onto a helicopter by Craig.

The clip showed the helicopter zooming across London before reaching the Olympic Stadium in East London.

As the sequence reached its climax, both Bond and the Queen jumped off the helicopter in Union Jack parachutes.

 Spectators in the stadium could see two similar figures jump from an helicopter hovering over the stadium as the clip ended, before their attention was drawn to the Royal box, where the Queen made her entrance in the same dress she wore in the clip.

The moment earned her rapturous applause inside the stadium and across the world.

At the time, Danny Boyle, who directed the short clip, said: ‘The Queen made herself more accessible than ever before.’

It was her first ever film role, and it was a comedy hit, proving the elderly Monarch had a great sense of humour.

To this day, the clip, which is available on YouTube, has been watched more than 81million times across the globe. 

Then, just three months before her tragic passing, the late Monarch melted the nation’s hearts after sharing afternoon tea with Paddington Bear, in celebration of her Platinum Jubilee celebrations.

Her Majesty delighted audiences across the nation at the televised BBC’s Platinum Party at the Palace after kicking off the festivities with an appearance alongside the fictional character Paddington Bear – in which they both enjoyed a chaotic cream tea at ‘Buckingham Palace’.

Paddington and the Queen were pictured sat opposite each other in ornate chair at a table, laid for afternoon tea, covered with a white linen cloth in an opulent room.

 Accident-prone Paddington was shown causing mayhem by accidentally depriving the understanding sovereign of another cup of tea and spraying cream from a chocolate éclair over a Palace Footman.

The Queen’s secret sketch was the result of months of planning, and saw the duffle-coat wearing bear show the monarch how he ensured he always had his favourite treat on him just in case, lifting up his red hat to reveal his snack.

Her Majesty responded by revealing ‘So do I’ before opening her bag and declaring ‘I keep mine in here’ to show her very own ready-made supply of the bread and orange preserve staple.

The bear from deepest darkest Peru congratulated the Queen on her reign of 70 years, saying: ‘Happy Jubilee Ma’am. And thank you. For everything.’ The modest Queen replied: ‘That’s very kind.’

Filmed at Windsor Castle, the Queen spent around half a day filming the secretly-pre-recorded humorous two-and-a-half-minute sequence, according to The Telegraph, and the comic sketch was a surprise even to some of her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren watching the scenes.

Such popular skit was certainly indicative with royal biographer Ingrid Steward’s claims that the late Monarch had began to share more of her funny side towards the end of her 70-year reign.

Seward, who has spent 40 years following the Firm, wrote in her 2023 book, My Mother And I: ‘The Queen’s stern look, inherited from her grandmother Queen Mary, belies the wonderful sense of humour we got to see more and more as she got older.

‘The Queen could be extremely funny, in a slightly mocking way.

 ‘She was also a first-class mimic, particularly of politicians, but never to anyone’s face. She could only laugh or state her opinions in private, and some of them were pretty forceful.

‘She also liked hearing a bit of gossip, so her immediate staff saved all the chit-chat for her about what was going on in every corner of her various homes.

‘She saw everything but turned a blind eye to small misdemeanours and and disasters. She was the same with her friends.’

Meanwhile, Gyles Brandreth, who first met the Queen in 1968, when she was just 20 years old, before going on to meet her on a number of occasions over the next 50 years, said in an interview with Yours Magazine: ‘She once performed George Formby’s When I’m Cleaning Windows for me, while strumming an imaginary ukulele!

‘She was an incredible mimic and told me she’d been inspired by famous female impersonator Florence Desmond, who came to Windsor Castle to entertain the Royal family during the war.

‘The Queen could do all kinds of regional accents.’

Even the Queen’s dressmaker, Angela Kelly, was reportedly was blown away by the Queen’s ability to copy her scouse accent.

Angela told The Sun: ‘We have a lot of fun together. The Queen has a wicked sense of humor and is a great mimic. She can do all accents—including mine.’

Brandreth wrote in Elizabeth: An Intimate Portrait, that this instinctive and self‑deprecating wit was as important a part of the Queen’s personality as the clothes she wore and the smile that lit up her face.

Nothing could better demonstrate this than the age-old tale of when the Queen watched a video of herself and called out to her husband: ‘Oh Philip, do look! I’ve got my Miss Piggy face on.’

While Queen Mary insisted that her granddaughter should maintain a serious demeanor, deeming it inappropriate for monarchs to smile before their subjects, the late Queen deviated from such custom.

Throughout her 70-year reign, the late Monarch showcased her immaculate comic timing, possessing an incredible ability to lead with a firm grip with a touch of light humour.