The charming question that Nelson Mandela would always ask the Queen on the phone

South African president was the one world leader who could dispense with formality with Elizabeth II

GRAN BRETAÑA-REINA ISABEL-DECESO (AP)

In a life filled with stuffy pageantry and strict rules of etiquette, only one world leader always spoke with Queen Elizabeth II on casual and informal terms, former prime minister Gordon Brown has revealed.

South African president Nelson Mandela did not use formal titles like “Your Majesty” or “Ma’am” when he spoke with the Queen on the phone, Mr Brown said.

Instead, Mandela would open every conversation with the friendly greeting: “Hello Elizabeth, how’s the Duke?”

Speaking to Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Mr Brown said that the Queen and the former freedom fighter, who died in 2013, were “probably the two greatest leaders at the time”.

“They had a great relationship,” said the ex-PM. “I knew Mandela well and he used to tell me these stories.

“When he talked to the Queen and phoned her up from South Africa, we would have said ‘Your Majesty, Ma’am, how are you?’ He said ‘Hello Elizabeth, how’s the Duke?’

“These were the words he actually used.”