The Queen Greets a Well-Wisher Named Donna, Who Happens to Be an Elephant
By Josh Duboff. Photos: Getty Images.
It can be hard to find reasons for rejoicing sometimes, but we must try. While the weather has not been pretty brutal lately . . . it’s a nice spring day on the East Coast today. Big Little Lies may be over . . but Veep is set to return this weekend. The Internet may be filled with upsetting and confusing items . . . but then there is this photograph of the Queen meeting an elephant.
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The Queen and Prince Philip fed bananas to the elephant at Whipsnade Zoo, as part of her tour of the new home for nine Asian elephants. The elephant in question here, bold enough to reach for the Queen’s grasp, is named Donna. Per the zoo’s director, the Queen was “absolutely delighted” to find out that one of the other elephants was named Elizabeth, after she was born eight months ago. The Queen also watched the squad that cares for the elephants enact their “daily care tasks” and viewed the animals being fed, as well as unveiling a plaque to commemorate the opening of the center.
The Queen appears to be bemused, intrigued, surprised, bewildered. The elephant looks gleeful, honored, elated—and why shouldn’t she?
This story originally appeared on Vanity Fair.
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