Royal Aide Reveals How Queen Elizabeth Reacted When Prince Philip Started "Pinching Her Bottom Repeatedly and Growling"

"Philip ran after her..."

Queen Elizabeth wearing a lilac hat and coat and sitting next to Prince Philip who wears a top hat
(Image credit: Stuart Wilson/Getty Images)

Just like other married couples, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip were known to argue. In fact, the former Duke of Edinburgh once threatened to leave his wife "stranded on the motorway." However, Elizabeth and Philip were also known to share a sense of humor, with one royal aide witnessing a particularly funny moment between the pair.

In the book The Queen: 70 Chapters in the Life of Queen Elizabeth II, royal author Ian Lloyd revealed, "Chief Petty Officer William Evans recalled The Queen, then in her mid-thirties, screaming with laughter and shouting, 'Stop it! Philip, stop it, stop it, stop it!' as Philip ran after her, pinching her bottom repeatedly and growling, 'Get up there, girl, get up there!'"

As well as having a rather cheeky streak, Prince Philip seemingly wanted royal fans to know that he did, in fact, share a bed with his wife.

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"Philip himself inadvertently gave a clue to their intimacy when he fact-checked a manuscript by biographer Tim Heald," Lloyd explained. "The author wrote, 'It was generally known that at the palace the royal couple had separate bedrooms.' In the margin the prince scrawled, 'wrongly.'"

Queen Elizabeth reportedly spoke in riddles to husband Prince Philip

"Philip ran after her, pinching her bottom repeatedly and growling."

(Image credit: Bob Riha, Jr./Getty Images)

Lloyd also reflected on Queen Elizabeth's growing confidence and why she seemed to appreciate Philip's candor.

"[T]he Queen was beginning to answer her husband back more," Lloyd shared.

The royal biographer continued, "Former private secretary Martin Charteris later commented, 'Prince Philip is the only man in the world who treats The Queen simply as another human being.'"

Queen Elizabeth reportedly spoke in riddles to husband Prince Philip

"Prince Philip is the only man in the world who treats The Queen simply as another human being."

(Image credit: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

As Charteris noted, "And, of course, it's not unknown for The Queen to tell Prince Philip to shut up. Because she's The Queen, that's not something she can easily say to anybody else."

The normalcy with which Philip spoke to Queen Elizabeth apparently went both ways, and seems to have been what helped make their marriage so successful.

Amy Mackelden
Weekend Editor

Amy Mackelden is the weekend editor at Marie Claire, where she covers celebrity and royal family news. She was the weekend editor at Harper’s BAZAAR for three years, where she covered breaking celebrity and entertainment news, royal stories, fashion, beauty, and politics. Prior to that, she spent a year as the joint weekend editor for Marie Claire, ELLE, and Harper's BAZAAR, and two years as an entertainment writer at Bustle. Her additional bylines include Cosmopolitan, People, The Independent, HelloGiggles, Biography, Shondaland, Best Products, New Statesman, Heat, and The Guardian. Her work has been syndicated by publications including Town & Country, Good Housekeeping, Esquire, Delish, Oprah Daily, Country Living, and Women's Health. Her celebrity interviews include Jennifer Aniston, Jessica Chastain, the cast of Selling Sunset, Emma Thompson, Jessica Alba, and Penn Badgley. In 2015, she delivered an academic paper at Kimposium, the world's first Kardashian conference.