Queen Elizabeth II: Photographer recalls monarch's jokes

Ian Jones has covered the Royal Family for 30 years

A photographer who has captured the Royal Family for 30 years has spoken of the late Queen's sharp wit and quick-fire one-liners.

Bolton-born Ian Jones said Queen Elizabeth II was always quick to spot the humour in her public engagements.

Mr Jones told BBC Radio Manchester she was "very, very intelligent" and often joked about the mishaps on her tours.

"She had a wonderful sense of humour but [was] very cryptic. Sometimes she would drop in a very quick one-liner."

Mr Jones said during the royal tours the Queen would reflect about the day before.

"She never put a foot wrong," Mr Jones said.

"She was absolutely meticulous, but something would always go wrong in the wings or behind the scenes and you would think 'I hope she didn't see that', but she never missed a thing."

He said: "Quite often you would be in a room and she would drop a little cryptic joke about something she had seen and it was all those little nuances she would allude to that would make her laugh, or if there was something in the crowd that would make her chuckle."

Ian Jones said the late Queen liked making cryptic jokes

The former pupil of Bolton School, who is now based in Canterbury, studied photography at Wigan Technical College before ending up at The Daily Telegraph in 1992.

He then became freelance and often worked at private events photographing for the Royal Family.

"It can be a private dinner with six people or a charity function with 400," he said.

Mr Jones said the Queen "never put a foot wrong"

This work has also given him experience of working with King Charles III.

He said: "King Charles is very similar he is an absolute wonder to work with - I've never known someone so driven and I assure you he will be a wonderful King.

Mr Jones added: "He has a fabulous sense of humour, he puts people so at ease and he has an ability to joke with and talk to people in a very, very short time."

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