Well, I fell for this, too. It was too cute. And the story – Prince Philip dresses as a palace guard to prank the Queen of England – was enchanting. But completely wrong. Seems a swarm of bees descended on a royal ceremony, perhaps the birth of Saint Ambrosia.
No, Elizabeth and Philip aren’t laughing because he pranked her by dressing as a palace guard. They’re actually giggling at a sudden bee swarm causing a ruckus during a ceremony. “As colonel of the regiment, the duke was standing in full uniform, as he prepared to accompany Her Majesty.” – BBC News
The situation was not caused by a prank, but a swarm of bees. Also, Prince Philip wasn’t dressed as a palace guard.
The swarm settled under one of those little folding wooden chairs that guests are forced to sit on when they attend events such as this. You can see the swarm and the Beekeeper to the Rescue on the BBC website, here.
Ron Miksha is a bee ecologist working in Calgary. He is also a geophysicist and does a bit of science writing and blogging. Ron has worked as a radio broadcaster, a beekeeper, and Earth scientist. (Ask him about seismic waves.) He's based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
