World’s most dignified ruler is now the cutest great-gran ever

Queen Elizabeth is clearly revelling in her role as matriach of an expanding family, escaping the formalities of public life with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

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It was meant to be all about the baby, but when the Queen was photographed meeting Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, the joy on her face beamed out of the picture. She may be the monarch, but she also earns the title of cutest great-granny in the world.

Archie is the newest member of the royal family and her eighth great-grandchild, so the Queen has had a lot of practice at being Granny and Great-Granny — 41 years of it, since Peter Phillips was born.

Harry and Meghan with Archie and the Queen, Prince Philip and Meghan’s mum Doria Ragland. Picture: AFP PHOTO / Chris Allerton

And while every family contains a matriarch who believes she is in charge, only one has a great-granny who really is the boss and has the title Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of Her other Realms and Territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith. Presumably this makes it difficult for her offspring to argue with her parenting tips.

It is a long time since Elizabeth II was a young mother. Prince Charles said she was “not indifferent so much as detached”, but then she did once leave her two-year-old son at home while she spent Christmas in Malta with Prince Philip. But when it comes to being a grandparent and great-grandparent, the Queen has had decades to perfect her skills.

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And it turns out she spoils her great-grandchildren. Like any other granny, it’s all about love with zero responsibility — you get to stuff the kids with sweets then leave when they go crazy.

Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge revealed that HRH lavishes her children with treats. “She always leaves a little gift or something in their room when we go and stay and that just shows her love for her family,” she said in the documentary Our Queen At Ninety.

She also doesn’t mind her nicknames. Prince William famously called her Gary because he couldn’t pronounce Granny, and Prince George and Princess Charlotte call her Gan-Gan.

It’s hoped Archie will opt for Nanna.

Prince George talks to his great-grandmother the Queen outside St Mary Magdalene on the Sandringham Estate for the christening of Princess Charlotte in 2015. Picture: Chris Jackson/Getty Images

The Queen loves the time she gets to spend with the youngest members of her family — even when they are naughty. In her last Christmas speech, she said: “It’s been a busy year for my family, with two weddings and two babies, and another child expected soon. It helps
to keep a grandmother
well occupied.”

She is often snapped laughing and joking with her great-grandchildren — and obviously adores having them near.

One of the cheekiest is Mia Tindall, 5, who was pictured proudly brandishing the Queen’s handbag for her official 90th birthday portrait in 2016.

Her dad Mike later told Good Morning Britain: “She was being a bit naughty. The Queen got it quite right when she told her, ‘Just hold the handbag now,’ and she did that. It ended up being a great photo.”

She adores George and Prince Louis and was particularly excited to welcome another girl when Charlotte arrived in 2015. “The Queen was really thrilled that it was a little girl, and I think as soon as we came back here to Kensington she was one of our first visitors,” Catherine said.

It’s also expected the Queen will have a special place in her heart for Prince Harry’s firstborn — as she has always had for him.

Princess Charlotte, Savannah Phillips and Prince George in 2018. Picture: AFP PHOTO / Daniel Leal-Olivas

Having had to care for William and Harry in a different way following the sudden loss of their mother Diana, Princess of Wales in 1997, the Queen has been a strong maternal influence for the princes ever since. In the Netherlands on Thursday, Harry admitted “missing a mother is like missing some kind of security, how you need that as a son and it falls away when you lose your mother,” but both he and William credit their grandmother with being a constant in their lives.

The Queen has always had a special relationship with Harry, secretly liking his naughty streak, which perhaps reminds her of a young Philip.

According to biographer Katie Nicholl in her book William And Harry: Behind The Palace Walls, Harry played a prank on his grandmother one Christmas when she got a new mobile phone. She asked him to set up the answerphone and he recorded, “Hey, wassup? This is Liz! Sorry I’m away from the throne. For a hotline to Philip, press one; for Charles, press two; for the corgis, press three.”

Indeed, it is Harry who has encouraged the Queen to relax publicly and show her sense of humour, in 2016 getting her to film a spoof video with himself and the Obamas for the Invictus Games. “You could almost see her thinking, ‘Why the hell does nobody ask me to do these things more often?’ ” Harry told Hello magazine.

The Queen with Princess Anne and Peter Phillips at his christening in 1977. Picture: Hulton Archive/Getty Images

“I wonder if maybe he reminds the Queen a little bit of Prince Philip. You know, with that wonderful … glint in his eye,” former royal butler Grant Harrold recently said on a Quest Red documentary.

She had to be much more responsible towards young Harry and William when they were growing up. William recalled a time he and Peter Phillips were playing in Balmoral and crashed their quad bikes into Zara’s go-kart, when the Queen “came running across the lawn in her kilt … and gave us the most almighty bollocking,” he said. Now she doesn’t need to be both grandmother and mother, but can leave the parenting part to her grandchildren.

Princess Eugenie reckons the Queen is truly herself in Balmoral. “Granny is the most happy there, I think she really, really loves the Highlands … walks, picnics, dogs — a lot of dogs … and people coming in and out all the time,” she said in Our Queen At Ninety.

“Family-wise we’re all there, so it’s a lovely base for Granny and Grandpa to be — for us to come and see them up there, where you just have room to breathe and run.”

Watch out Harry, without the worry this time round, Granny is probably revving up the quad bike herself.