Queen Elizabeth was known for many things throughout her incredible 70-year reign, but apparently, sparkling conversation was not one of them. Having to meet thousands of people each year would be draining for even the most outgoing of us, but for the late Queen—who was said to be naturally introverted—coming up with something interesting to say over and over could be a challenge. In his book Q: A Voyage Around the Queen, biographer Craig Brown gathered tales from a number of those who met Queen Elizabeth—and according to the author, sometimes keeping quiet said it all.
Despite having met an estimated four million people throughout her life—"more people than anyone else who ever lived"—Brown wrote that Queen Elizabeth "was never a natural conversationalist." During her brief interactions with the public at royal engagements, she relied on generic questions like "Have you come far?" or "What do you do?" and made short comments in reply.
Singer Charlotte Church was witness to one such interaction when she met Queen Elizabeth for the first time in 1999. "It must be so hard thinking of something to say to a line of people that you'e never met or know nothing about" she said, per the book, sharing that Queen Elizabeth asked her if she had "been singing long." The singer added, "She's probably really nice, but she looks so uncomfortable, as if she's racking her brains for a sentence, whereas Prince Philip's much more relaxed and funny and just chats about anything."
But Brown noted that the late Queen—who was a brilliant mimic and incredibly funny with her inner circle—could be just as reserved during less public interactions. Legendary British photographer Cecil Beaton, who photographed the Royal Family on many occasions, said he found Queen Elizabeth "difficult to talk to," per Brown. The photographer described her as "affable enough" but said she "showed no signs of real interest in anything...not one word of conversation." Meanwhile, King George V's biographer, Harold Nicolson, wrote that Elizabeth was "dull and surrounded by dull people."
An interaction with Queen Elizabeth and Sir Paul McCartney is also detailed in Q: A Voyage Around The Queen, with the Beatles star quipping, "I don't know how to break this to you, but she doesn't have a lot to say." The comment was, of course, referring to his band's song, "Her Majesty," which states, "Her Majesty's a pretty nice girl, but she doesn't have a lot to say."
However, Brown pointed out that, in part, the late Queen might have aimed to stay mysterious with her "taciturn manner," especially when it came to her opinions on political matters. He wrote that Elizabeth "could use silence to convey meaning, questions to express opinions, and understatement to signal disapproval"—listing "recollections may vary" as one of her most famous quotes and understatements. "Being able to speak between the lines" was, perhaps, her greatest strength, in the end.
