Late Queen Elizabeth’s surprising answer on why she was good at acting

Queen Elizabeth II told a Paddington Bear screenwriter that she was acting all of the time, he has revealed.

Simon Farnaby, 50, who co-wrote Paddington 2, said that when he complimented the late monarch on being a great actress, she replied: “Well, I do it all the time.”

‌The comedian and actor appeared as a footman alongside the monarch when she featured in a special film last year to celebrate her Platinum Jubilee.

The sketch showed the late Queen taking afternoon tea with Paddington at Buckingham Palace before producing a marmalade sandwich from her handbag.‌

Farnaby also revealed that the monarch struggled to strike the right tone when delivering one particular line, but eventually nailed it after being advised to imagine she was talking to her grandchildren.

“There was one conversation,” he said. “There was a bit where Paddington says: ‘I keep my marmalade sandwiches in my hat, I keep it for emergencies.’

The sketch showed the late Queen taking afternoon tea with Paddington at Buckingham Palace.

‌”She goes: ‘So do I. I keep mine in here,’ and she has a handbag.”

‌Farnaby said that at first, the late Queen’s tone was quite harsh.

“The director would come in and say: ‘Ma’am, could you just be a bit gentler?’” he revealed.

‌”And she’d be so sweet and she’d go: ‘I’m so sorry, yes of course.’

‌”He’d go: ‘Like you’re talking to your grandchildren.’ She’d say: ‘Oh, of course. I’m so sorry.’

Making the Paddington Bear sketch with the Queen was “a very special thing to be part of”, screenwriter Simon Farnaby said.

‌”I was saying to him: ‘Just give up, just stop, we’re not going to get it.’ And he said: ‘No, I think just a couple more.’”

‌The writer said that eventually the late Queen, who was getting tired, got the line right and “everyone was relieved”.

He added: “It was okay in the end. It was really sweet and really lovely.”

‌Recalling making the sketch on comedian Richard Herring’s Leicester Square Theatre Podcast, Farnaby said it was “a very special thing to be part of”, adding: “That was part of history and great to be there. I was in the same room. It was quite a day.”

Queen Elizabeth II told a Paddington Bear screenwriter that she was acting all of the time. Photo / Getty Images

But he admitted there were some crossed wires when he talked to the late monarch about her performance.

‌”I needlessly just went up to her and said: ‘Ma’am, that was fantastic,’” he said.

‌”She went: ‘Oh, thank you.’ And I went: ‘You’re a very good actress.’ And she said: ‘Well of course, I do it all the time.’

‌”I went: ‘Oh, you mean like playing the part of the Queen?’ And she said: ‘I beg your pardon?’

‌”And then I lost all my confidence. I thought she was giving me the scoop, like it’s a part, a role.

‌”And I went: ‘I mean like it’s a role, isn’t it, the Queen, and you play it?’

‌”And she said: ‘You know I am the Queen? Paddington’s not real, they’re actors, but I am the Queen.

“‘I meant at Christmas, when I do my speeches. But then it’s all written down you see and now I have to remember it and I find it quite hard.’”