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- The special bond between Prince Harry and the Queen (opens in new tab) has a long history.
- According to former royal butler Paul Burrell (opens in new tab), Harry was the only member of the royal family who could ever get away with tricking Queen Elizabeth.
- Harry loved playing pranks on the Queen when he was a kid—as well as making mischief for other members of the royal household.
Prince Harry and the Queen (opens in new tab) have a very special bond, the roos of which go way back to Harry's childhood (opens in new tab).
According to former royal butler Paul Burrell, Harry was the "only one" would could get away with tricking Queen Elizabeth—something he apparently took full advantage of as a kid.
"I know the Queen very well and I know she’s very fond of Harry," Burrell told OK! magazine (opens in new tab). "As William would sit and have tea with her after school, Harry would come and put plastic flies in the sugar bowl! It was hilarious. Harry was the only one who could trick his granny."
Burrell, who last spoke to Queen Elizabeth in 2018, according to The Mirror (opens in new tab), shared another story about Harry's childhood mischief (opens in new tab) making. The former royal butler told the Mirror that Harry's late mother, Princess Diana (opens in new tab), also helped encourage his practical jokes, particularly when it came to shopping for his Christmas gifts.
"She'd spend hours looking for jokey things for their stockings," Burrell said. "One year, Harry got fake dog poo."
Harry immediately started planning places he could put said fake dog poo where his grandmother would find it, Burrell said.
According to head chef at Althorp Estate, where Harry stayed (opens in new tab) with his parents as a kid, he loved to flush slippers down the toilet when he was visiting the property. The trick, understandably, caused a lot of mayhem in the estate.
"When Prince Charles and Diana brought William and Harry to Althorp, Harry was a little mischief—he was stuffing slippers down the loo," the chef said, according to the Mirror.
Am I the only one who can't wait to hear about the pranks Archie pulls on Harry when he's a little older?
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Kayleigh Roberts is a freelance writer and editor with more than 10 years of professional experience. Her byline has appeared in Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan, ELLE, Harper’s Bazaar, The Atlantic, Allure, Entertainment Weekly, MTV, Bustle, Refinery29, Girls’ Life Magazine, Just Jared, and Tiger Beat, among other publications. She's a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.
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