--- title: A Suprisingly Silly Moment Between Queen Elizabeth, Charles & Anne description: The 28-year-old Queen is seen grinning from ear-to-ear canonical: https://time.com/4004413/palace-queen-elizabeth-prince-charles/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-08-20T10:52:04.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:48:14.218Z og:title: A Suprisingly Silly Moment Between Queen Elizabeth, Charles & Anne og:description: The 28-year-old Queen is seen grinning from ear-to-ear og:url: https://time.com/4004413/palace-queen-elizabeth-prince-charles/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: A Suprisingly Silly Moment Between Queen Elizabeth, Charles & Anne twitter:description: The 28-year-old Queen is seen grinning from ear-to-ear twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Royals Tweet a Suprisingly Silly Moment Between Young Queen Elizabeth, Prince Charles and Princess Anne ## Video: The British Royals Through TIME [Watch (HLS stream): The British Royals Through TIME](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/OcXH1xum.m3u8) (3:32)  _Published 2011-04-29. Deputy managing editor Michael Elliott takes us on a tour of TIME’s coverage of all things royal from 1923 to today_ by [Erin Hill / People](https://time.com/author/people/) ## Erin Hill / People Contributor Aug 20, 2015 10:52 AM UTC by [Erin Hill / People](https://time.com/author/people/) ## Erin Hill / People Contributor Aug 20, 2015 10:52 AM UTC Even when your mom is the Queen, childhood can still be (occasionally!) silly. A rare moment between a young [Queen Elizabeth](http://www.people.com/people/news/category/0,,personsTax:QueenElizabethII,00.html) and her two laughing children, Prince Charles and Princess Anne, was shared in a [tweet by Buckingham Palace](https://twitter.com/BritishMonarchy/status/633978949257818112) Wednesday. The picture, which dates back to 1954, shows the Queen, who was around 28 years old at the time, with an ear-to-ear smile alongside her two eldest children. And the monarch (or royal photographer Marcus Adams) must have told a royally funny joke, as Charles, who was around 7 years old, and Anne, who was around 4, can’t control their laughter! > [](https://twitter.com/BritishMonarchy/status/633978949257818112) The stylish trio dressed up for the occasion, with the Queen in a gorgeous dress and beautiful pearls that adorably match her daughter’s delicate necklace. And it seems Anne was already following in her mother’s [purse-carrying footsteps](http://www.people.com/people/package/article/0,,20395222%5F20936663,00.html)! The young princess is seen clutching a small blue bag. (Queen Elizabeth’s black handbag turned up like an honored guest in [Princess Charlotte’s official christening portraits](http://www.people.com/people/package/article/0,,20395222%5F20936663,00.html) last month.) Not to be outdone, Charles sports a pair of [familiar-looking red shorts](http://www.people.com/people/package/article/0,,20395222%5F20943248,00.html). A possible future hand-me-down to his younger brother Prince Andrew! [_This article originally appeared on People.com_](http://www.people.com/people/package/article/0,,20395222%5F20946331,00.html) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4004413/palace-queen-elizabeth-prince-charles/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4004413/palace-queen-elizabeth-prince-charles/"},"headline":"Royals Tweet a Suprisingly Silly Moment Between Young Queen Elizabeth, Prince Charles and Princess Anne","datePublished":"2015-08-20T10:52:04.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:48:14.218Z","description":"The 28-year-old Queen is seen grinning from ear-to-ear","url":"https://time.com/4004413/palace-queen-elizabeth-prince-charles/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Prince Charles","celebrities","queen elizabeth"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Erin Hill / People"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4004413/palace-queen-elizabeth-prince-charles/","name":"Royals Tweet a Suprisingly Silly Moment Between Young Queen Elizabeth, Prince Charles and Princess Anne"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"The British Royals Through TIME","description":"Deputy managing editor Michael Elliott takes us on a tour of TIME’s coverage of all things royal from 1923 to today","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/OcXH1xum/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2011-04-29T15:19:49.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/OcXH1xum.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4004413/palace-queen-elizabeth-prince-charles/","duration":"PT3M32S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4004413/palace-queen-elizabeth-prince-charles/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```