Mike Tindall has praised Queen Elizabeth for showing off her “funny side” with her Platinum Jubilee “Paddington” sketch.
The 96-year-old monarch delighted viewers by sharing tea with the famous fictional bear at Windsor Castle at the start of the Platinum Party at the Palace on Saturday.
The magical sketch saw Her Majesty inviting Paddington for cream tea, which goes terribly wrong when the clumsy bear drinks the monarch’s cup of tea from the spout and sprays a footman with cream from a chocolate éclair.
Watch video:
Paddington also showed the monarch that he keeps marmalade sandwiches under his hat, with the Queen revealing that she keeps some in her handbag.
Paddington then congratulates the Queen on her 70-year reign, saying: “Happy Jubilee Ma’am. And thank you for everything.”
To which she replies: “That’s very kind.”
The sequence ends with the Queen and Paddington using a spoon to tap to the beat of Queen’s “We Will Rock You” on a china teacup as the rockers start the musical performances.
Speaking on “The Good, The Bad and The Rugby” podcast about the heartwarming sketch, Mike, who is married to the Queen's granddaughter, Zara Tindall, said: “She’s officially now a qualified actor – that was probably the best thing.
“The drones were pretty good, to be fair, but then that [Paddington sketch] was bang on. She was bang on. I’ve always said she was funny, but she nailed it.”
The retired rugby player also revealed 4-year-old Prince Louis’ animated antics throughout the celebrations, including pulling faces and covering his ears on the balcony at Buckingham Palace during the special RAF flypast and pulling tongues at his mother, Catherine, Duchess of Sussex, during the pageant, was probably down to the number of sweets the children had.
He said: “Louis was just wanting to have fun. There was a lot of sweets out back though, so they had complete sugar highs.”