The news of Queen Elizabeth II's death on Thursday shook the entire world.
While global reactions are tempered by the aftermath of colonialism and lasting effects of imperialism, as well as opinions on the monarchy across the remains of the Commonwealth including Britain, many critics still mourn the woman behind the crown.
In the wake of the news, many shared their stories of Britain's longest reigning monarch giving an insight into her character.
One story in particular sheds light on the Queen's humor and lightheartedness.
In a video shared by David Mack (@davidmackau) on Twitter, Queen Elizabeth II's former bodyguard Richard Griffin recounts a story about two American tourists who didn't recognize the Queen.
You can watch the video below:
Griffin tells the story of a time when he and the Queen were on a picnic in Scotland and encountered two American tourists. He stated they rarely met others at the site, but when they did the Queen would always stop to say hello.
Griffin recalls:
"...it was two Americans on a walking holiday, and it was clear from the moment we first stopped that they hadn't recognized the Queen, which is fine."
"And the American gentleman was telling the Queen where he came from, where they were going to next, and where they'd been to in Britain."
Griffin then begins to chuckle in the video:
"And I could see it coming, and sure enough, he said to the majesty, 'And where do you live?'"
According to Griffin, the Queen then responded:
"Well I live in London, but I've got a holiday home just the other side of the hills."
The tourists continued:
"Well how often have you been coming up here?"
Griffin recounted that the Queen then said:
"Oh, I've been coming up here ever since I was a little girl, so over 80 years."
To which one of the tourists replied:
"Well, if you've been coming up here for 80 years, then you must've met the Queen."
"Quick as a flash" as Griffin recalled, the Queen responded referring to Griffin by his nickname:
"Well I haven't, but Dickie here meets her regularly."
Then the tourists became even more curious, shifting their attention back to Griffin.
They were intrigued and asked Griffin what the Queen was like.
Griffin said because he was with the Queen for a long time and knew he could pull her leg, he answered:
"Oh, she can be very cantankerous at times, but she's got a lovely sense of humor."
Griffin said the next thing he knew, one of the men comes to him, puts his arm around his shoulder, gives his camera to the Queen, and asked if she would take a picture of the three.
Griffin eventually swapped places with the Queen and took some pictures of the tourists with her without ever letting on.
He said that they all waved goodbye at which point the Queen turned to Griffin and said:
"I'd love to be a fly on the wall when he shows those photographs to friends in America, and hopefully someone tells them who I am."
The video garnered reactions from Twitter.
Although the news of Queen Elizabeth II's passing is somber and sorrowful for many, it's uplifting to learn of her humor and wit through stories such as these.
