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Privacy NoticeAn ex-protection officer has revealed a previously unknown detail about how Queen Elizabeth II reacted when her granddaughter, Zara Tindall, bagged an Olympic medal. Since she was too anxious to watch the event live, she instead celebrated in a special way. During a conversation following the monarch’s death, former royal protection officer, Richard Griffin, took a trip down memory lane and reminisced about his time work so closely with Queen Elizabeth II. He shed light on the Queen’s love for horse riding, revealing that Her Majesty had been too nervous to watch Zara’s competition run at the 2012 Olympics.
Zara Tindall was close to her grandmother, Queen Elizabeth
(Image: Getty)
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Griffin revealed that the Queen decided to keep herself distracted by going on a picnic but inevitably asked him to find out how her granddaughter had fared. The moment Her Majesty found out that Princess Anne’s daughter had won a silver medal, she couldn’t contain her joy and “danced around in circles.” Zara won the silver medal for her part of the Team Eventing competition alongside her teammates and was presented her medal by her mum, The Princess Royal.
Zara was presented her silver medal by her mum, Princess Anne
(Image: MARK LARGE / DAILY MAIL)
Griffin shared: “I remember once when I was up at Balmoral with her [the Queen] and Zara was competing in the Olympic Games and looked like she was going to win a medal.” He then revealed a surprising bit: “And I thought I would be flying down to Greenwich to watch her get on, but the Queen said to me ‘I’m just so nervous, I can’t face up to it. Let’s just go out for a picnic,'” he added. Keeping the story going, the former protection officer added: “So we drove up to one of the mountainsides, one of the cabins and we had a little private picnic just the two of us.”
Former royal protection officer Griffin previously told another funny anecdote
(Image: Sky News)
However, the late Monarch couldn’t resist finding out how Zara had got on and eventually asked Griffin to find out. “So I radioed them, found out she’s won the silver medal and I remember the Queen jut grabbed me and we were dancing around in circles on this hill in Scotland,” Griffin said, giggling. He ended his story sweetly and said: “That’s a memory that will stay with me for evermore.” Griffin had previously gone viral having shared another story about the Queen bumping into American tourists. The stateside visitors had asked if Her Majesty if she’d ever met the Queen, having no idea who they were talking to.Story SavedYou can find this story in My Bookmarks.Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right.Follow OK! MagazineFacebookTwitterCommentMore OnZara TindallQueen Elizabeth IIOlympicsRoyal FamilyPrincess AnneBalmoral
