A quirky and beloved feature of Google Maps has quietly been retired following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

The feature was a small Easter Egg on the mapping service that ocurred whenever a user activated Street View around Buckingham Palace.

Since 2015, the traditional yellow ‘Pegman’ that Google used to indicated Street View would transform into a cartoon version of the Queen.

Pegman would don a royal dress and crown to resemble the monarch, which Google lovingly dubbed ‘PegMa’am’.

Sadly, in the wake of the Queen’s death, Google has decided to quietly remove the feature.

It was first picked up by sleuths on Reddit, who noticed the Queen’s likeness no longer appeared.

As well as Buckingham Palace, the PegMa’am figure would also appear around Windsor Castle and Balmoral Castle in Scotland.

But no more.

The little change to Pegman was first introduced in 2015, in honour of the Queen becoming the longest-serving monarch in UK history.

There are a few other special Pegman replacements at other points of interest around the world.

For example, if you use Street View around Loch Ness, Pegman changes into a little version of Nessie. Or if you hover around the site of Area 51 in the Nevada desert, it becomes a tiny UFO.

For now though, anyone using Street View around the royal residences will simply see Pegman in his usual yellow form.

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Head to Metro.co.uk‘s Queen Elizabeth II tag page for the latest updates, and sign Metro.co.uk‘s book of condolence to Her Majesty here.

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