Britain's Princess Beatrice thinks Queen Elizabeth is an ''incredible woman''.

The 24-year-old royal revealed her grandmother is ''very supportive'' of her as she prepares to scale Mont Blanc, the highest mountain in the French Alps, in aid of her new charity initiative Big Change, and she praised the monarch after she recently appeared to Parachute into the Olympic Stadium as part of the London 2012 opening ceremony.

When asked if the queen knows about Beatrice's forthcoming challenge, she said: ''She does and she too is very supportive. She is an incredible woman.''

As well as the monarch, Beatrice's mother Sarah Ferguson, The Duchess Of York, and her sister Princess Eugenie, 22, will be supporting her in France, but her father Prince Andrew will miss out as it coincides with him climbing the Shard - the tallest skyscraper in Europe - to raise funds for the Outward Bound Trust and the Royal Marines Charitable Trust.

She added: ''Mum's incredibly excited and is coming along, I think. She won't be climbing but she'll be there to support. And my dad and my sister have been great too. They're all behind me. Dad will be abseiling down the Shard while I'm on the climb so we're having to support each other in advance.''

Beatrice will take on the feat alongside Big Change co-founders Sam and Holly Branson - the son and daughter of Sir Richard Branson - Sam's fiancee Isabella Calthorpe, Sam Richardson and Phil Nevin.