A royal protection officer just revealed the hilarious prank the Queen played on some tourists

When visiting Buckingham Palace in the British capital or Balmoral Castle up in Scotland, you’d be hard pressed to catch a glimpse of members of the British royal family, especially Queen Elizabeth II herself.

However, for some very unsuspecting tourists from the United States – this is exactly what happened and they had no idea!

Longtime royal staffer, Richard Griffin, revealed to the Times of London that the Queen kept mum about her real identity while walking the grounds of Balmoral Castle.

According to Richard, the 93-year-old was dressed in tweeds and wearing a headscarf as she walked with one of her protection officers when the group of American tourists struck up a conversation with who they thought was a “sweet old lady” who lived nearby.

And when they asked if she’d ever met the Queen, she came back with a cracker of a response!

“This policeman has,” she told them, while saying that she’d never personally met her, herself!

Remaining completely oblivious, the tourists went on their merry way without once realising who it was they were talking to.

How wonderful to be so incognito when you’re the most famous woman in the whole world!

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It’s not only tourists who make their way to Balmoral during the UK summertime – in fact, her whole family usually comes for a visit, including her precious great-grandchildren.

Last week, Prince William, Duchess Catherine and their three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis arrived at the castle to visit “Gan Gan”.

Some lucky onlookers even managed to catch a glimpse of the Cambridge family as they arrived, where it is understood they spent the weekend with the Queen.

In footage obtained by the MailOnline, the family were seen exiting the plane in Scotland, with William accompanying his elder children George and Charlotte as he carried their backpacks.

Earlier in the month, Prince Andrew and his former wife Sarah Ferguson also travelled up Scotland to meet the Queen, as did their eldest daughter Princess Beatrice.