Sad news for Royal Family as Queen's 'most mischievous' friend dies

The Queen's faithful childhood friend, Lady Rupert Nevill, has died aged 97, just five months after Her Majesty's passing.

• The Queen's childhood friend, Lady Rupert Nevill, has died aged 97.
• The British aristocrat, who first met Her Majesty serving in the Girls Guides, has been described as one the monarch's most 'mischievous' friends.
• In other royal news, King Charles' huge decision for Archie and Lilibet that's still 'up in the air'.

The Royal Family is grieving the loss of Queen Elizabeth II's longtime friend, Lady Rupert Nevill, who died aged 97 last week. 

Her Majesty had reportedly been close with the British aristocrat since childhood, with the two first becoming chummy when they were both members of the Palace Girl Guide Pack in the late 1930s. 

Informally referred to as 'Mickie' by her peers, the former Lady Anne Camilla Wallop married Lord Rupert Nevill in 1944 and would often socialize with Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip throughout the royal couple's marriage. 

It's understood that the late monarch and the Duke of Edinburgh even stayed at the Nevills' luxurious home of Horsted Place in East Sussex, where they enjoyed far more privacy than they would have been afforded at Buckingham Palace.

Lord Rupert Nevill, who died prematurely in 1982, also worked as Prince Philip's treasurer and private secretary. Mickie and her husband were sometimes referred to at court as 'the little people', because of their small frames. 

Lady Rupert Nevill also reportedly helped the Queen have a more normal life, assisting the royal matriarch in her mission to remain incognito in public. On one occasion, Her Majesty and Prince Philip decided to sneak out of Horsted to take a trip to Brighton. With Lady Rupert Nevill in tow, the monarch apparently managed to attend a theatre production in the busy seaside town without being noticed. 

"The Queen relishes seeing whether out of royal context she can go unrecognized… she once queued at the ticket office ­without being noticed," an article from the 1970s reported, according to the Daily Mail. "Another night, when slow-­moving crowds jammed the foyer, the manager recognized Mickie Nevill and suddenly realized that, elbow-deep in the crush and enjoying it, was the Queen." 

Lady Rupert was the mother of four children: Guy, Angela, Henrietta, and Christopher. Guy, who was a godson of Elizabeth II, sadly passed away at the age of 47 in 1993. 

A private funeral for Lady Rupert will be held on Wednesday, February 8 and it is believed that multiple senior members of the Royal Family will attend the service.