Queen Elizabeth’s Pick for an Alternate Career Had Nothing to Do With Horses or Dogs
Queen Elizabeth II’s career was, well, being queen. Her life changed at 10 years old when her uncle, King Edward VIII, abdicated, cementing her status as a future queen. However, in later years, she admitted if a career outside the royal family had been an option, she knew what she would’ve selected.
An entertainer’s World War II visit inspired the queen’s alternate career choice
Think the queen would’ve made a career of breeding dogs or racing horses, given her lifelong love of dogs and horses? Wrong. Sure, she bred both horses and dogs. But, if given the opportunity for a different career path, neither would’ve been her first choice.
As royal author Gyles Brandreth told Radio Times, it went back to a certain entertainer who paid a World War II-era visit to Windsor Castle when the queen went by Princess Elizabeth (via Express). That entertainer? A comic impressionist named Florence Desmond.
Queen Elizabeth liked the idea of having a career as an ‘impressionist’
Brandreth continued, saying Desmond’s visit stuck with the queen, noting the entertainer “did impressions — Marlene Dietrich, Mae West, and Vera Lynn.” Years later, he recalled, the queen divulged she would’ve liked to try out having her own career as an impressionist had she not taken the throne.
“The queen told me that if she hadn’t been queen, she might quite have liked to have been an impressionist,” Brandreth told the outlet. “I said, ‘Really? What can you do?’ And she said, ‘I can do George Formby.’ And there and then, the queen picked up an imaginary ukelele, and she sang to me, ‘When I’m Cleaning Windows.’”
Brandreth also said the queen had a talent for mimicking not only animals but accents, too. “She’d do Frankie Dettori jumping off a horse, Concorde over Windsor Castle,” he said. “All in one conversation. It was a heck of a conversation.”
Queen Elizabeth may have also enjoyed acting as a potential career
During her reign, the queen stepped in front of cameras many times, whether it was for a speech or a big royal family event. But only a handful allowed the monarch to indulge in a little bit of what could’ve been her alternate career.
The queen appeared alongside actor Daniel Craig for a James Bond video skit for the opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympic Games, as seen above. In addition to surprising British royals, the queen reportedly improvised the line: “Good evening, Mr. Bond.”
Four years later, the queen joined her grandson, Prince Harry, in a promotional video for the 2016 Invictus Games. Filmed at Windsor Castle, Queen Elizabeth supposedly remarked, “Oh, this is rather fun,” after cameras stopped rolling.
Finally, in 2022, Queen Elizabeth joined Paddington Bear in a surprise video marking Platinum Jubilee Weekend. Following her death at the age of 96 three months later, the video’s co-director praised the queen’s acting ability, calling it a “brilliantly timed comic performance.”
Sept. 8, 2023, marked the one-year anniversary of Queen Elizabeth’s death.
