Queen Elizabethdidn’t only joke around withPaddington BearandJames Bond.
During her annual summer retreat at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, thelate monarchmade life as fun-filled as possible — and that includes being the brunt of practical jokes herself.
“One time the Queen asked me to play the [bagpipes] through the woods, as she’d asked the rest of the family to join her for a barbecue,” Scott Methven, who held the prestigious role of Sovereign’s Piper — or “Pipes” for short — from 2015 to 2019, tells PEOPLE about a family event that had a hugely surprising conclusion.
“It was the first time in years that the Queen wanted to do it in the traditional way that Queen Victoria did, with people carrying lit torches,” Methven continues. “They had to hunt high and low inBalmoralto find them and eventually got these things out of the cellar and had four of them.”
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royal piper Scott Methven and his wife Morven at Buckingham Palace.Scott Methven
“It was probably the eeriest and weirdest thing I’ve ever done,” he continues. “It was around 8:00 or 9:00 p.m., I’m in my full Balmoral uniform, and all of the royal family came out of the cottage. There were over 20 members of the family there.”
At that exact same moment, however, a cloud of midges also arrived and started “biting everyone to death,” says Methven.
WhilePrince William,Kate Middletonand the rest of the royal family started swiping at the insects, Methven himself stood completely still and continued to play his pipes — something that made a big impression on the Queen.
“I never flickered an inch. Never moved an inch once as I played,” says Methven.
“What happened next is that we were invited in for a drink,” he continues. “You’re looking at a table with 22 members of the royal family. Her Majesty the Queen was standing beside me and she offered a thimble of alcohol to all the people with the torches and I got three-quarters of a wine glass full of whisky as a joke.”
Scott Methven playing the pipes at Buckingham Palace.Scott Methven
He then recalled their conversation.
“The Queen said ‘Pipes. Can you please tell me: The midges were fierce tonight, but you didn’t move an inch. You didn’t flinch at all?'”
“I said ‘Yes, your majesty. I have a secret weapon,” reveals Methven.
“The Queen said ‘Really? So why were they not biting you? What’s your secret weapon?'”
It was at this point that Methven played his practical joke — and encountered the most surprising royal reaction imaginable.
“I said ‘I laced myself internally with gin,’ and she punched me in the arm!” says Methven. “With 22 members of the royal family sitting there!”
The Queen with Scott Methven and the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders.Cpl Ben Maher
“They all looked up,” he continues. “Kate and William were sitting at the end of the table and everybody just looked up as if to say ‘The Queen just punched Pipes!'”
“So I totally over-exaggerated it,” he adds. “I grabbed my arm pretending I was really hurt, going ‘The queen just punched me!’ She just started laughing and then everyone else did too.
“The Queen punched me on the arm and served me my drink. I can die a happy man,” he says.
The two-time Afghanistan veteran held the position of Sovereign’s Piper after returning from Helmand Province with the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders in 2015.
It also means being at the Queen’s side wherever she goes and living in all of the Queen’s homes — something Methven says nobody “would have believed” when he was growing up in Stirling, central Scotland.
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Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles at Balmoral.PA Images / Alamy Stock Photo
“For me, it was just her humility as a person,” Methven, 48, tells PEOPLE about the Queen’s caring reaction to his devastating personal news. “She was the person who probably got me through this all the way along.”
The Queen’s support became even more poignant when, while his wife Morven underwent chemotherapy, the British Army sought to fill Methven’s prestigious position with another soldier who didn’t have to dedicate so much time to his family life.
Queen Elizabeth, however, had other plans.
“The Queen refused,” says Methven. “She said ‘I’ve got one Queen’s Piper. And the reason he isn’t here is that he’s away caring for his wife. So, you are not replacing him under any circumstances. He is not getting removed from his post because his wife is dying of cancer. That’s not happening.’
“To have someone of that position do that … she was just brilliant,” he adds.
source: people.com
