The Queen's genius trick she uses when she meets the public

The Queen is said to use a special two-word technique to boost her memory ahead of royal engagements and it's genius!

• The Queen must have met thousands of people in her lifetime but she uses a simple trick to help her remember who she is greeting.
• Her Majesty highlights just two-words about a person after reading their biography and uses this to aid her memory ahead of her meeting.
• This royal news (opens in new tab) comes as the Queen and Kate Middleton’s shared love of hit TV show is revealed (opens in new tab).

The Queen (opens in new tab) reportedly has a special way of remembering who it is she is greeting and it's all thanks to two-words.

Her Majesty meets hundreds of people each year and preparing for a greeting that will put her guests at ease is far from tricky as she has devised a simple but genius trick to remind her of the information she needs.

There's nothing worse than meeting someone and then not knowing anything about them or forgetting the exact detail, so the Queen is understood to use a two-word technique that helps her remember the key information.

And as the Queen celebrates her Platinum Jubilee (opens in new tab) year, marking 70 years since she came to the throne, she will have to prepare for the multiple engagements ahead but her trusted method of remembering what she needs to know will put her in good stead.

Author Julia Donaldson, who wrote one of the best children’s books (opens in new tab) The Gruffalo, was appointed a CBE at the Queen’s honours and she has spilled the secret to the Queen's successful greetings.

Speaking about the Queen's genius trick, in an interview to Whimn, Ms Donaldson shared, “I was told the Queen goes through the potted biographies with a yellow marker and just two words get highlighted. So when you get called up the equerry shows her the words. I did my little curtsey and she said, ‘Oh, so you’re a writer. You’re very popular…’

"I went off thinking ‘writer/popular…’ those must have been my two words.”

The Queen, 95, will meet around 75 people for every CBE ceremony so it can be tricky to ensure everyone is made to feel special but her personalised greetings and the subtle way she learns them is key to upholding her standards while adding an extra personal touch to every interaction.

And it also helps to put her guests at ease when they realise she knows who they are and can hold a conversation with them.

Princess Anne carried out the Queen's honours recently as she has been doing fewer engagements (opens in new tab) following her Covid illness (opens in new tab) recovery.

And it's likely that Princess Anne would use the Queen's genius trick ahead of her official engagements too.

Why not give it a go yourself, it might help in awkward social situations!