The royal family's schedule is so finely tuned that any unplanned incident -- be it a regimental horse trying to eat the Queen's welcome bouquet of flowers or a child crying at the most inopportune moment -- is a much-needed source of amusement.
The Sun reports that royal biographer Robert Hardman revealed one such moment in his new book, "Queen of the World."
According to the Queen's daughter, Princess Anne, during a tour of Australia, the Queen was gifted with a stuffed glove on a wooden lever. The students who invented the contraption were concerned that their sovereign would suffer from waving fatigue. A fair concern, given that she's been doing it for 66+ years.
“They gave her a stuffed glove on a wooden lever so you could tweak the end of the lever and this hand went to and fro," the Princess Royal told Hardman. "I think they thought it was cheeky, but Her Majesty was thrilled.”
The royals are famous for exchanging gag gifts on Christmas Eve, so this is right up the Queen's alley. And though the contraption has never been used in public, Hardman was told that the Queen keeps it at Balmoral Castle in Scotland. "I hear it became a much-loved family joke," he wrote in the book.
The ITV documentary (based on Hardman's book) aired in the UK this past Tuesday. It will air in the states Oct. 1 at 8:00 p.m. on HBO.