Queen’s ‘most mischievous friend’ who helped her sneak out dies age 97

2023-01-31

The late Queen's best friends, who helped her go out in public unrecognised, has died aged 97.

Lady Rupert Nevill, known as "Micky" by friends, met the late Queen Elizabeth while they were both in a troop of Girl Guides on the grounds of Buckingham Palace when they were little.

They remained friends throughout the years and, the Queen and Prince Philip would often travel to Brighton to stay with her and her husband, Lord Nevill as the two couples enjoyed going to the theatre together.

Born Lady Anne Camilla Evelyn Wallop, Micky married Lord Rupert Nevill, who served as treasurer and private secretary to Prince Philip, in 1944 and thereby became known as Lady Rupert Nevill.

Their martial home, Horsted Place in Uckfield, East Sussex went on to become a bolthole for Princess Margaret and Peter Townsend during their romance, the Express reports.

It was reported in an article from the 1970s that the Queen loved to go in public unrecognised, and Micky was usually found at her side when she was.

It read: "The Queen relishes seeing whether out of royal context she can go unrecognised.

"She once queued at the ticket office without being noticed.

"Another night, when slow-moving crowds jammed the foyer, the manager recognised Micky Nevill and suddenly realised that, elbow-deep in the crush and enjoying it, was the Queen."

Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes is among those who have paid tribute to Nicky.

He told Richard Eden at the DailyMail: "I will miss her tremendously. We had been friends for more than half a century.

"In fact, she was one of the main influences in my life. Her knowledge, her judgment, her taste, were all extraordinary, and I consider knowing her as one of my greatest blessings."

Senior royals are likely to be at Micky’s funeral next week. Prince Philip and Charles were among the mourners at her husband’s funeral in 1982.

Micky and her husband's son was the Queen's first godson, who was born in 1945 – two years before she was coronated. He tragically died in 1993, aged just 47.

The news of Micky's passing comes just months after the Queen passed away in September last year.

The cause of death for the much-loved monarch's death was initially reported as old age, which was written on her death certificate, but it has since been reported that the Queen had been "secretly fighting" bone marrow cancer.

In a biography written, called Elizabeth: An Intimate Portrait, Gyles Brandreth wrote: "I had heard that the Queen had a form of myeloma — bone marrow cancer — which would explain her tiredness and weight loss and those ‘mobility issues’ we were often told about during the last year or so of her life.

"The most common symptom of myeloma is bone pain, especially in the pelvis and lower back, and multiple myeloma is a disease that often affects the elderly.

"Currently, there is no known cure, but treatment — including medicines to help regulate the immune system and drugs that help prevent the weakening of the bones — can reduce the severity of its symptoms and extend the patient’s survival by months or two to three years."

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