The personal aide of the late Queen Elizabeth has revealed the monarch’s love for speed in her first interview.
Samantha Cohen dedicated more than 18 years in service to the late monarch who died on September 8 2022 at the age of 96.
Working her way up through the ranks, she became the Queen’s trusted aid, serving as her assistant private secretary.
As the reigning King Charles and Queen Camilla prepare for their trip to Australia, Samantha has revealed new details about the Queen’s love for family and speed during her time at Balmoral.
In her first interview with The Sunday Times, Samantha described the Queen as an “incredible boss”.
She says the queen was “shy” and relished the sanctuary and privacy at Balmoral, giving her the space and time to prioritise family above all else.
She said: “She wanted to be a family woman [as well the Queen]. It was important to her,” she says.
“She loved hosting everybody for summer, allocating the rooms and checking them herself.”
Queen Elizabeth liked to put her foot down
Despite her shy persona, Samantha said Queen Elizabeth liked to put her foot down on the grounds of her beloved north-east retreat leaving her passengers “white-knuckled”.
She added: “She was gutsy. She would drive her cars fast around Balmoral.”
The 56-year-old aide first laid eyes on the Queen in the summer of 1977 during a state visit to Australia in her Silver Jubilee year.
The moment left a lasting impression on the then-Brisbane schoolgirl.
More than two decades later, she responded to an advertisement for a job in the Queen’s press office at Buckingham Palace, earning her place as part of the Monarch’s trusted staff.
Throughout her 18-year tenure, she rose through the ranks to become the Queen’s assistant private secretary.
She accompanied the Queen on several trips to her homeland including her final trip in 2011, at the age of 85.
Following the marriage of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in May 2018, the Queen asked Samantha to lend her experience to them by serving as their private secretary.
In October 2019, she stepped down after 18 years of service.
Late Queen was ‘so playful’
Samatha says her fondest memories were during her time at Balmoral.
She recalled a moment from 2017 during a sit down with her boss in the drawing room.
She said: “She’d buzz you in with your basket. She was always sitting at her desk beside the window, and you would go through the basket, what had come in that morning.
“This day, she said, ‘Oh, hold on a minute, there’s a butterfly, we must get it out.’
“There was this beautiful butterfly sitting on a book. She got up, picked it up and it flew away. Then I caught it and it flew out of my hands.
“Then she caught it. It was hilarious, she was laughing, I was laughing, eventually, she caught it, we opened the window, freed the butterfly, and she said, ‘Right, where were we?’
“She was so playful. We just had fun.”
Conversation