Queen Elizabeth was known for many things throughout her incredible 70-year reign, but apparently, sparkling conversation was not one of them. Having to meet thousands of people each year would be draining for even the most outgoing of us, but for the late Queen—who was said to be naturally introverted—coming up with something interesting to say over and over could be a challenge. In his book Q: A Voyage Around the Queen, biographer Craig Brown gathered tales from a number of those who met Queen Elizabeth—and according to the author, sometimes keeping quiet said it all.
Despite having met an estimated four million people throughout her life—"more people than anyone else who ever lived"—Brown wrote that Queen Elizabeth "was never a natural conversationalist." During her brief interactions with the public at royal engagements, she relied on generic questions like "Have you come far?" or "What do you do?" and made short comments in reply.
