Real story behind viral photo of the Queen giggling with Prince Philip

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Updated on April 21, 2021

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Following Prince Philip’s passing at the age of 99, a cute picture of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip went viral, but there is some misinformation about the story behind it.

Prince Philip, the husband of Queen Elizabeth II, spent more than seven decades serving his wife in a position that largely characterized his life.

After the Palace broke the sad news, tributes began to flood in, and rare photos of him began to circulate widely on the internet.

One such viral picture of the royal couple “giggling” has been winning hearts, but the background is not as it told.

Photo by Chris Young – PA Images/PA Images via Getty Images

While claims on social media that the royal consort pranked the Queen and caught her off balance, the truth was that the Duke of Edinburgh was not posing as a palace guard. While the picture is not a fake and Queen Elizabeth II was giggling alongside Prince Philip, the assertion that he was “pranking” is incorrect.

The real explanation for the queen’s laugh in the photograph was not a prank. It was actually a swarm of bees.

Photographer Chris Young, who was working with the Press Association at the time and captured the incident, spoke to BBC News about the incident.

He was the only photographer at the event, which included a ceremonial inspection by the Queen’s Company Grenadier Guards.

At the time, Philip was Colonel of the Grenadier Guards, a position he held from 1975 to 2017, and he was preparing to accompany the queen. When they saw the guests surrounded by bees, they couldn’t help but laugh. Young said that he was aware that he needed to catch their response.

In an interview 18 years later, Young said, “I recognized that it was a human moment.”

The queen was “giggling like a little girl,” he said, and the prince was also laughing.

The moment Young took the photo was captured in a video from the Edmonton Journal from April 16, 2003. A beekeeper was called in to remove the bees, and the ceremony proceeded as scheduled.

Prince Philip has donned the ceremonial attire on many occasions, including the annual Trooping the Colour ceremonies, which commemorate the Queen’s birthday.

The duke was standing in full dress as colonel of the regiment, as he waited to accompany Her Majesty, according to BBC News.

He told the news agency that his editors needed more shots of the royal couple after the rare interruption by the bees drew a lot of attention. “The main picture made the front pages of a number of newspapers the following day. It was a rare, candid exchange of glances between the couple in public.”