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TL;DR: 

  • Queen Elizabeth II appeared in a clip for the 2016 Invictus Games with Prince Harry. 
  • The late queen, according to Valentine Low’s Courtiers book, called the experience “rather fun.” 
  • She also remarked, “People should ask me to do these more often,” according to the book. 
  • Prince Harry’s comments after filming the Invictus Games video echoed Queen Elizabeth’s. 

Queen Elizabeth II reacted to filming a 2016 Invictus Games video alongside Prince Harry with just five words, according to a new book. The monarch, who died in September 2022 at 96, reportedly had a great time and a “look” on her face that said it all. 

Prince Harry and Queen Elizabeth quickly filmed the Invictus Games video at Windsor Castle

The Invictus Games clip didn’t mean a lot of time in front of the camera for Harry or the queen. According to Valentine Low’s Courtiers: The Hidden Power Behind The Crown, and what Harry said of the video in 2016, it didn’t take long to film.

“The 40-second video reportedly took only two takes with Harry showing his grandmother the clip in her drawing room at Windsor, where she delivered the response to the Obamas’ challenge with a dry, ‘Oh really…please!’” Low wrote per Newsweek.

Meanwhile, Harry told Hello! Magazine at the time they “did one take from two angles” before adding, “She’s the queen, she’s busy!”

Book says Queen Elizabeth called filming the Invictus Games video ‘rather fun’

According to Courtiers, the queen enjoyed being in front of the camera. “Afterwards, Elizabeth said, ‘Oh, this is rather fun,’” Low wrote. 

The author went on to quote a source who told him, “She was wonderful. She was obviously quite happy with it, and wanted to support her grandson. She wanted to support the cause, and was up for having some fun in the process.”

Low also quoted another source who claimed Harry had been “nervous” about asking the queen to participate in the video over tea at Kensington Palace. 

Prince Harry also said Queen Elizabeth had ‘great fun’ filming the video

Prince Harry and Queen Elizabeth, who according to Valentine Low's 'Courtiers' book said she had 'great fun' filming the 2016 Invictus Games video with Prince Harry, sit next to each other
Prince Harry and Queen Elizabeth | John Stillwell – WPA Pool/Getty Images
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The Duke of Sussex shared the queen had a good time. “She had great fun,” he told Hello! Magazine in 2016. “And I think it was almost as though you could see that look in her face, at the age of 90, thinking, ‘Why the hell does nobody ask me to do these things more often?’”

Harry shared they had, at most, 90 seconds, to get it “right.” It was no issue for the queen, he explained, because “she’s so incredibly skilled, she only needs one take.”

He also revealed he’d been a “gibbering wreck” and “more nervous than anyone else” during filming. 

The now father-of-two also said at the time he “didn’t want to put pressure” on the queen to participate. 

“She’s my boss as head of the armed forces. But it seemed appropriate four years after her helicopter exit at the Olympics,” he said, referring to the queen’s James Bond clip at the 2012 Olympics opening ceremony. “And if you have the ability to up one on the Americans then why not.” 

The queen later appeared in yet another light-hearted video. She made a surprise appearance opposite Paddington Bear during Platinum Jubilee celebrations in June 2022. 

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