THE Queen has a secret weapon up her sleeve if too much waving makes her arm ache — a false hand.

The Sun reports that the “waving machine”, a stuffed glove on a wooden lever, was given to her as a joke by a group of Australian students several years ago.

And although she’s never used it in public, Her Maj thought it was so funny she took it home to the UK.

In a book about the Queen, Princess Anne recalls the young Aussies presenting their invention.

Anne, 68, said: “They gave her a stuffed glove on a wooden lever so you could tweak the end of the lever and this hand went to and fro. I think they thought it was chee­ky, but Her Majesty was thrilled.”

Author Robert Hardman, who talked to the princess for his book Queen of the World, said: “The Queen was rather taken with it and I think it ended up at Balmoral. I don’t think she ever used it in public, but I hear it became a much-loved family joke.”

The Queen, 92, has perfected the art of waving with minimum effort but is required to do it thousands of times, especially when faced with crowds of wellwishers on tour.

Her Royal Yacht Britannia even had a group of people whose task was to wave from its deck.

When sailing through an inland waterway, throngs would appear on the banks and wave. The crew were too busy to respond, so organised “waving parties” to do it instead.

Albert “Dixie” Deane, one of Britannia’s longest-serving yachtsmen, said: “It was exhausting to wave all the time, so we had a party whose job was just to wave.”

This article originally appeared in The Sun and is republished here with permission