Queen Elizabeth II rarely picks up the phone unless she has a direct request from the prime minister, an expert claims.
The 96-year-old monarch is even more likely to communicate with the Queen Mother, the British historian who died in 2002, since she passed away nine years ago, according to Jeremy Tyler.
Tyler, who wrote the book The Windsors, told the Daily Mail that the Queen is usually contacted for her own phone calls, but would not make an exception for visiting prime ministers.
“I reckon the Queen is only making direct calls when there is something special – at least with the PM – and the PM says ‘Oh, give us some news’. Her like is a one-way phone.”
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Tyler added that Princess Margaret was only able to pick up the phone to Queen Elizabeth II when her husband was in hospital.
“I think they learned to trust each other completely. They don’t want to be rude.”
She revealed that in 1953, Margaret and Elizabeth had their first communication with each other on 2 September, the day of Margaret’s wedding to Antony Armstrong-Jones.
In 2015, Sophie Wessex had to call to get her monarch’s attention.
Although Tyler states the queen does not spend every waking moment talking to her household staff, most of the royals do keep in touch with their relatives and household staff via their phones.
“The world we live in is a very mobile one, and people are on their phones all the time,” Tyler said.
“They are living more in a world of one phone call than the world that I grew up in.”