Modern, but one has one’s limits...

HERE are a few things you might not know about the Queen. She collects pepper grinders. She is allergic to cats. And she uses the phrase ‘hanging out’.

This third, quietly astonishing revelation was made during a documentary to mark the 65th anniversary of the Coronation, in which Her Majesty, now 91, revisits some of the most important pieces of her jewellery box.

Inspecting the Imperial Crown, she alights on a few pearls and muses that they ‘don’t look very happy now. Most pearls like to be sort of living creatures so they’ve just been out, hanging out here for years, it’s rather sad’.

Crikey. Sounds like someone’s been hanging out with the grandchildren.

This, it seems, is Queen Version 2.0. Smiley, warm, relaxed – the sort of Queen you might imagine pulling a cracker at Christmas lunch, rather than the stern one who turns up to the State Opening of Parliament.

And it’s a Queen we’ve seen only in recent years. Back when she had that crown placed on her head, the idea that she or indeed any of the Royal family would talk publicly about anything personal, never mind let the guard down and crack a few jokes, was highly verboten.

Then again, the Royals are all about sharing these days.

There’s William and Harry, opening up about their mother’s death and talking frankly about mental health; Prince Charles saying people thought he was ‘dotty’ for his views on climate change; and new (soon to be) family member Meghan Markle, who told Vanity Fair before her engagement announcement that she and Harry were ‘two people who are really happy and in love’.

Gosh. It’s all gone a bit Keeping up with the Windsors, hasn’t it? Not that this is necessarily a bad thing. Even the staidest institution must move with the times, and to be fair the Queen has always been ahead of the curve on that front (she was the first head of state to send an email, way back in 1976).

Today’s times then, dictate sharing and caring, opening up and letting it all hang out.

THE Royal family has never been more accessible or understood, two things which are critical for its survival in a world where everyone from the President of the United States to the primary headteacher tweets about their breakfast.

Still, there are limits. Rigby & Peller, the bra firm that supplied lingerie to Her Majesty, this week lost its Royal Warrant after owner June Kenton released a tell-all book entitled Storm in a D-Cup. For all her sharing, caring and hanging out, the Queen – thank goodness – still seems to know exactly where to draw the line.