Queen Elizabeth II Jane Barlow/WPA Pool/Getty Images
Two years after the death of Queen Elizabeth II, her former aide is opening up about her time working for the famed royal — and revealing a few surprise anecdotes.
Samantha Cohen, who was employed by the Queen for 18 years, spoke candidly in a new interview with The Sunday Times, published on Saturday, October 12.
Cohen described the Queen as a “shy” woman, who was family oriented. “She wanted to be a family woman [as well as the Queen]. It was important to her,” she said. “She loved hosting everybody for summer, allocating the rooms and checking them herself.”
Cohen, an Australian native, started working in the publicity office at Buckingham Palace, when she was 25 years old. She eventually was promoted to communication secretary, and then to assistant private secretary.
In that time, she also got to see an unexpected side of the royal that most people can’t claim to have known: Cohen said that the monarch had a need for speed. “She was gutsy. She would drive her cars fast around Balmoral.”
Her son, King Charles, recently remembered his late mother while discussing Balmoral in a September speech.
“My late mother especially treasured the time spent at Balmoral, and it was there, in the most beloved of places, where she chose to spend her final days,” Charles, 75, said while speaking to Scottish Parliament.
Balmoral Castle, located in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, is one of the British royal family’s main residences and the site of many family holidays, with ideal conditions for hunting and other outdoor activities (apparently, including driving). Charles referred to the country as “a uniquely special place” for his family during his speech, which he was giving to celebrate the Scottish Parliament’s 25th anniversary.
Charles also brought up his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, noting that she was “proudly” Scottish.
Earlier this year, Charles broke royal tradition making Balmoral Castle open to the public for the first time in history. The tours were scheduled throughout the summer — from July 1 through August 4 — and offered to take visitors “on a historical journey through several of the beautiful rooms within Balmoral Castle.”
The royal family has called Balmoral their Scotland home since 1852. At the time, Prince Albert acquired the property for wife Queen Victoria. Queen Elizabeth II died in the castle in September 2022 at the age of 96.