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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Ellie Fry

Queen's amusing interaction with police officer who didn't recognise her in official car

Grieving royal fans from across the world have shared emotional tributes to Queen Elizabeth II since the sad news of her passing on Thursday afternoon. Heart-warmingly branded as the 'nation's grandma', thousands of people have gathered to pay their respects at royal landmarks across the UK - from Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle to Balmoral and the Palace of Holyrood House.

Those lucky enough to have met the Queen - be it a close working relationship or a short interaction at an event - have all praised the late monarch's special ability to make people feel at ease in her presence. She stayed loyal to staunchly formal poise throughout her reign, but did reveal small snippets of humour on occasion.

One such moment came to light when a police offer made the unfortunate blunder of failing to recognising the Queen as she travelled down The Mall to Buckingham Palace in her official car with her daughter, Princess Anne.

The Queen passed away at Balmoral on Thursday afternoon (Getty Images)

For the latest updates as the world mourns the Queen and King Charles III's reign begins, follow our live blog.

According to The Mail, the inexperienced bobby even asked the Queen's driver for his driving licence when he pulled him over in a painstakingly awkward exchange.

Writing in the newspaper, author and journalist Penny Junor said: "The young man had presumably seen the car had no number plate but clearly not noticed the Royal insignia on its roof.

"Wanting to spare the policeman embarrassment, the drive motioned over his shoulder in an attempt to point out he had someone rather special in the back

The beloved monarch's reaction was both funny and kind, as she tried to save the inexperienced officer from blushes - with little success.

Junor continued: "The hint was lost on the policeman who blundered on. Equally keen to spare anyone embarrassment, the Queen slid down on to the floor of the car so she was out of sight, and told Anne to do the same.

"The driver continued to gesticulate until finally the penny dropped".

The late Queen tried to save the policeman from further embarrassment (Getty Images)

Despite being one of the most recognisable people in the world, this wasn't the first time that the Queen had to converse with someone had no idea who she was.

A similarly awkward moment played out when two American tourists when they also failed to recognise the Queen when they met her on her Scottish estate.

The late Monarch's former protection officer Richard Griffin previously appeared on Sky News where he recalled what happened when the duo of hikers made the embarrassing blunder.

Griffin had been on a walk with the Queen around the grounds of Balmoral Castle, her beloved Scottish estate, when they came across the American tourists.

The hikers even went as far as to ask Her Majesty if she'd met the Queen, much to her amusement as she continued to prank the pair.

After some small talk, the American man said to the Monarch: 'Well if you've been coming up here for 80 years, you must have met the Queen?'

Griffin then explained: "As quick as a flash, she said 'Well I haven't but Dick here meets her regularly'".

Still none the wiser, the American duo asked the Queen to take a photo of them in the grounds.

Griffin swiftly swapped places with Her Majesty to snap an image of the hikers with the Queen - at which point they still hadn't clocked on.

* This weekend, the Daily Mirror and Sunday Mirror celebrate the life of Her Majesty the Queen with a commemorative special filled with all the key moments from Britain’s longest reigning monarch. Be sure to pick up your copy of the Daily Mirror and Sunday Mirror to get both pullouts.

You can leave your tributes to Queen Elizabeth II here.

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