Royal | News - Prince Ricardo De La Cerda
Queen Elizabeth II once “hid behind a bush” to avoid having to speak to a guest she was forced to host at Buckingham Palace, according to Valentine Low.
The royal author noted the late Queen was able to keep her composure most of the time but on some occasions, she struggled to keep her true opinion about someone hidden away.
He said the most prominent example of Her late Majesty showing her unhappiness came during the state visit of Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu in 1978.
The Labour Party, then in charge of Government, requested the Queen host the Romanian leader at Buckingham Palace ahead of signing an agreement with Bucharest for the production of new civilian aircraft.
While opposed to the visit because of Ceaușescu’s “horrible” record, the late Queen was forced to accept and welcomed him to London over the summer.
For all the latest on news, politics, sports, and showbiz from the USA, go to Daily Express US
Speaking to ToDiForDaily founder Kinsey Schofield, Low said: “It was during the Labour Government, James Callahan’s Labour Government of the late 1970s.
“There was a state visit by the Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu, who was an evil despot, a horrible, horrible man.
“The Queen, of course, really didn’t want him in her house but the Constitution says she has to have these people on the advice of the Government.
“So she had to have this horrible man and his horrible wife in order to steal some arms deal.”
The royal author said Her late Majesty was forced into making an impromptu escape when she accidentally stumbled on the Romanian dictator and his wife walking around the Palace’s gardens.
He continued: “In an off moment in between engagements she’s walking the corgis in the garden of Buckingham Palace and she sees Ceaușescu and his wife coming down the path.
“And she absolutely didn’t want to talk to him so she hid behind a bush.”
Her contempt did not go unnoticed, with even former Foreign British Secretary Lord David Owen noting she made her opinion of the Ceaușescus “clear.”
Lord Owen said: “The Queen puts up with many different people, but Ceaușescu was too much for her. She made it quite plain she didn’t like that visit.”