8 times Queen Elizabeth was hardcore, from defying Prince Philip to driving a truck in WWII and even facing a gunman

Jul 21 , 2021

Queen Elizabeth fires a machine gun in 1993. Photo: @gentlemensgram/Instagram

Philip thought the queen would take his surname Mountbatten, but Winston Churchill was against this – and she sided with him

Her mum, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, was partial to a drink and some reports have suggested the queen drank as many as four cocktails a day

Britain’s Queen Elizabeth has style and grace, and is renowned for her sense of duty and tradition, but that hasn’t stopped her from showing over the years that she has a no-nonsense, hardcore side too ...

Her time with the toolbox

The then-Princess Elizabeth as junior commander in the ATS inspecting The Motor Transport Training Centre at Camberley, Surrey, during the Second World War in 1945. Photo: NCJ Archive/Mirrorpix via Getty Images

Princess Elizabeth, as she was then known, was keen to join the war effort and help her future subjects in their quest to win World War II. She trained and worked as a truck mechanic and driver as part of the Women’s Auxiliary Territorial Service.

Defying her parents in the name of love

Britain’s then-Princess Elizabeth and her husband Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, are seen leaving Westminster Abbey, London, following their wedding in November 1947. Photo: AP Photo

Although the 13-year-old Princess Elizabeth fell in love with Philip when he was their 18-year-old tour guide during a visit to the Royal Naval College in Dartmouth, Devon, with her parents and sister in 1939, her family did not consider Philip to be a suitable partner for the future queen. She defied their protests, and the couple were eventually married on November 20, 1947, soon after the war.

Whose dynasty is it?

Britain’s Queen Elizabeth and her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, wave from the balcony of Buckingham Palace, London, following the queen’s coronation at Westminster Abbey in June 1953. Photo: AP Photo