Royals

Queen Elizabeth Has a 'Look' That's Provoked by 'Incompetence or Overfamiliarity,' Says Biographer

As one very senior adviser says in the book. "There's a withering look, and it looks you up and down," a senior adviser says in the new biography, Queen of Our Times

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Published on March 17, 2022 09:15 AM

Queen Elizabeth isn't known for expressing her emotions in public. Aside from the occasional smile, the 95-year-old monarch is rooted in stoicism.

But those who work closely with the Queen know exactly how to infer when she's none too pleased.

"Most know that there are two hazards to be avoided when meeting with the boss: 'the Line' and 'the Look,' " royal biographer Robert Hardman writes in his upcoming biography, Queen of Our Times: The Life of Queen Elizabeth II, excerpted in this week's issue of PEOPLE. "You do not want to cross the former or receive the latter."

As one very senior adviser says in the book. "There's a withering look, and it looks you up and down, and it was terrifying when it first happened to me."

"The Look" starts with what some officials call "an eyebrow," progressing in more extreme cases to "both eyebrows" and then a firm "Are you sure?" according to Hardman.

"Another retired courtier still remembers the glacial stare after a mix-up over timings at a state banquet," Hardman writes in Queen of Our Times, out April 5. (All was resolved with an apology the following day, but it had been an uncomfortable 24 hours.)

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"The silent reprimand can be triggered by incompetence or else by overfamiliarity," he continues.

As [former prime minister] Tony Blair wrote in his memoirs, "Occasionally she can be matey with you, but don't try to reciprocate or you get 'the Look.' "