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Claim A says the Queen wore mirrored sunglasses during outdoor speeches. Claim B says a stand-in rehearsed events so sunlight wouldn't blind the Queen. Claim B is true, and Claim A is completely made up.
For decades, a woman named Ella Slack quietly stood in for Queen Elizabeth II during rehearsals for major royal events. Slack was chosen because she matched the Queen's height almost exactly, which let palace staff test lighting, sightlines, and seating arrangements before the monarch ever showed up.
One of her strangest jobs involved the sun. Event planners needed to know exactly where the glare would fall during outdoor ceremonies, so Slack would stand in the Queen's exact spot at the exact time of day to check whether sunlight might land directly in her eyes.
But the most bizarre detail involves the throne itself. Slack was never permitted to actually sit on it, out of respect for the monarch. Instead, she had to hover in a squat just above the seat, holding the pose long enough for staff to check the angle and framing.
This meant a full-body rehearsal — posture, lighting, seating position — all done by someone who could never let her body actually touch royal furniture. It's an oddly physical detail behind the pristine, effortless image the public always saw.
There's no record of the Queen wearing mirrored sunglasses for speeches. Glare issues were solved ahead of time through rehearsals like Slack's, not eyewear, and no such sunglasses habit was ever part of her public appearances.
Would you have guessed there was a whole squatting protocol behind royal event planning?
