Why the Queen insisted on always holding her own umbrella on rainy days

During her reign Her Majesty shunned traditional protocols and the Queen insisted on always holding her own umbrella.

• The Queen was constantly attending royal engagements and ceremonies during her 70-year reign.
• This meant that the Queen would often get caught in intemperate weather and had to think of tricks to ensure she kept dry.
• In other royal news, Prince Edward and Sophie Wessex revealed as guests of honour for iconic TV event in place of the late Queen.

Throughout her life, the late Queen was associated with formality and being proper, but there was one task that the Queen insisted on doing for herself - holding her own umbrella. While it might be more formal for a man to hold an umbrella for a lady, this was actually rather impractical, and the sensible reason the Queen decided to perform this task for herself, is actually pretty understandable.  

Author and broadcaster Gyles Brandreth revealed in the Oldie magazine that when he was a 20-year-old student he met the Queen when she visited Oxford University in 1968. It was a rainy day and the student reprimanded a fellow classmate who didn't offer to hold the Queen's umbrella for her.

The author wrote, "When she had gone I reprimanded William Waldegrave (the Oxford Union President, now Baron Waldegrave) for not carrying the monarch's umbrella for her as he escorted her across the courtyard in the rain." 

The author then revealed that the reason Her Majesty prefers to hold her own umbrella is so that she doesn't end up with rain falling down her neck - a common problem if you are not walking perfectly synchronized with the person holding your brolly. "He told me 'The Queen insists on holding her own umbrella - always. If someone else holds it, the rain trickles down her neck'," said Gyles.

This explains why Her Majesty was often seen carrying her own umbrella, and not relying on anyone accompanying her to help. 

The Queen also made the decision to use clear umbrellas so that when she was photographed she would still be visible and a dark umbrella would't cast a dark shadow over her face. 

During her life, the Queen also used umbrellas as an additional accessory to her outfit and often wore umbrellas with colorful bands that matched her colorblock looks.

This was just one of the many practical tasks that the Queen preferred to complete for herself. For example, the Queen enjoyed walking her own dogs, and she only gave up this chore once it was too difficult for her to take them on long walks and give them the exercise that they needed.

Similarly, although the Queen had a number of footmen and drivers who would be happy to drive her wherever she desired, the Queen enjoyed driving. Her Majesty was often snapped driving around her estates in her signature Land Rover and continued driving until the year she died.