London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Saturday, Oct 18, 2025

Dropped cheese and ‘alarming speed’: politicians and royal staff remember Queen

Dropped cheese and ‘alarming speed’: politicians and royal staff remember Queen

As respects were paid tat Westminster, many told stories of their humorous encounters with the Queen


Former prime ministers, current MPs and peers have shared stories about their humorous encounters with Britain’s longest-reigning monarch.

In parliament on Friday, MPs shared their personal experiences of meeting the Queen.

Theresa May recalled a picnic at Balmoral, detailing how she employed the three-second rule with some cheese she dropped on the ground.

“I had a split-second decision to make,” May said, admitting she returned the cheese to the table.

MPs burst out laughing when she added: “I turned round to see that my every move had been watched very carefully by Her Majesty the Queen. I looked at her.

“She looked at me and she just smiled. And the cheese remained on the table.”




May’s successor, Boris Johnson, who was replaced as prime minister on Tuesday, told the Commons of the Queen’s “humility” and “refusal to be grand”.

He said: “Unlike us politicians, with our outriders and our armour-plated convoys, I can tell you as a direct eyewitness that she drove herself in her own car with no detectives and no bodyguard, bouncing at alarming speed over the Scottish landscape to the total amazement of the ramblers and the tourists we encountered.”

As peers paid their respects at Westminster, the former Labour cabinet minister Lord Blunkett recalled how the Queen came to his aid after he ended up facing the wrong way as he knelt during a royal audience.

The peer, who is blind, recounted how the incident occurred during his induction as a member of the privy council, which advises the monarch, and how she had helped “shift me round”.

Blunkett, who has a guide dog, spoke about how he had been “quite nervous” before the ceremony 25 years ago.

He said: “Dogs aren’t very good at showing you where to kneel on cushions. They are brilliant at all kinds of other things but that isn’t one of them.

“So I left the dog with [then Labour cabinet colleague] Jack Straw and I moved across the room and I did manage to hit the cushion, but facing the wrong way.

“Her Majesty in a gracious and careful and never patronising way managed to gently – by touching my arm – shift me round so that I could just brush her hand.”

Ed Davey, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, recalled sitting next to the Queen at a lunch in Kingston, south-west London, during her golden jubilee celebrations in 2002.

The MP for Kingston and Surbiton said: “I was initially confused by a silver cylinder beside her place setting.

“I wondered to myself what treasures it might hold. I had my suspicions when, as dessert was served, her beloved corgis were let in, and nestled themselves round her feet.

“The Queen lifted up the lid of the cylinder, plucked out some digestive biscuits, and began sneaking them to her grateful dogs.”


During the Queen’s platinum jubilee celebrations in June, the former protection officer Richard Griffin recounted a story about two American tourists failing to recognise the Queen after they met her walking in the grounds of Balmoral Castle in Aberdeenshire.

During the interview with Sky News, which has been recirculating on social media after the monarch’s death, Griffin said: “There were two hikers coming towards us and the Queen would always stop and say hello.

“It was two Americans on a walking holiday and it was clear they hadn’t recognised her, which was fine.

“The American man asked her if she lived in the area, to which she replied that she did indeed have a house nearby.

“She said that she lived in London but had a house just over the hill, and he asked how often she had been coming up here.

“She said she’d been coming up for more than 80 years and you could see the cogs were ticking. He said: ‘Well if you’ve been coming up here for 80 years, you must have met the Queen?’

“As quick as a flash, she said: ‘Well I haven’t but Dick here meets her regularly.’”

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Diane Keaton’s Cause of Death Revealed as Pneumonia, Family Confirms
Former Lostprophets Frontman Ian Watkins Stabbed to Death in British Prison
"The Tsunami Is Coming, and It’s Massive": The World’s Richest Man Unveils a New AI Vision
Outsider, Heroine, Trailblazer: Diane Keaton Was Always a Little Strange — and Forever One of a Kind
Dramatic Development in the Death of 'Mango' Founder: Billionaire's Son Suspected of Murder
Two Years of Darkness: The Harrowing Testimonies of Israeli Hostages Emerging From Gaza Captivity
EU Moves to Use Frozen Russian Assets to Buy U.S. Weapons for Ukraine
Europe Emerges as the Biggest Casualty in U.S.-China Rare Earth Rivalry
HSBC Confronts Strategic Crossroads as NAB Seeks Only Retail Arm in Australia Exit
U.S. Chamber Sues Trump Over $100,000 H-1B Visa Fee
Shenzhen Expo Spotlights China’s Quantum Step in Semiconductor Self-Reliance
China Accelerates to the Forefront in Global Nuclear Fusion Race
Yachts, Private Jets, and a Picasso Painting: Exposed as 'One of the Largest Frauds in History'
Australia’s Wedgetail Spies Aid NATO Response as Russian MiGs Breach Estonian Airspace
McGowan Urges Chalmers to Cut Spending Over Tax Hike to Close $20 Billion Budget Gap
Victoria Orders Review of Transgender Prison Placement Amid Safety Concerns for Female Inmates
U.S. Treasury Mobilises New $20 Billion Debt Facility to Stabilise Argentina
French Business Leaders Decry Budget as Macron’s Pro-Enterprise Promise Undermined
Trump Claims Modi Pledged India Would End Russian Oil Imports Amid U.S. Tariff Pressure
Surging AI Startup Valuations Fuel Bubble Concerns Among Top Investors
Australian Punter Archie Wilson Tears Up During Nebraska Press Conference, Sparking Conversation on Male Vulnerability
Australia Confirms U.S. Access to Upgraded Submarine Shipyard Under AUKUS Deal
“Firepower” Promised for Ukraine as NATO Ministers Meet — But U.S. Tomahawks Remain Undecided
Brands Confront New Dilemma as Extremists Adopt Fashion Labels
The Sydney Sweeney and Jeans Storm: “The Outcome Surpassed Our Wildest Dreams”
Erika Kirk Delivers Moving Tribute at White House as Trump Awards Charlie Presidential Medal of Freedom
British Food Influencer ‘Big John’ Detained in Australia After Visa Dispute
ScamBodia: The Chinese Fraud Empire Shielded by Cambodia’s Ruling Elite
French PM Suspends Macron’s Pension Reform Until After 2027 in Bid to Stabilize Government
Orange, Bouygues and Free Make €17 Billion Bid for Drahi’s Altice France Telecom Assets
Dutch Government Seizes Chipmaker After U.S. Presses for Removal of Chinese CEO
Bessent Accuses China of Dragging Down Global Economy Amid New Trade Curbs
U.S. Revokes Visas of Foreign Nationals Who ‘Celebrated’ Charlie Kirk’s Assassination
AI and Cybersecurity at Forefront as GITEX Global 2025 Kicks Off in Dubai
DJI Loses Appeal to Remove Pentagon’s ‘Chinese Military Company’ Label
EU Deploys New Biometric Entry/Exit System: What Non-EU Travelers Must Know
Australian Prime Minister’s Private Number Exposed Through AI Contact Scraper
Ex-Microsoft Engineer Confirms Famous Windows XP Key Was Leaked Corporate License, Not a Hack
China’s lesson for the US: it takes more than chips to win the AI race
Australia Faces Demographic Risk as Fertility Falls to Record Low
California County Reinstates Mask Mandate in Health Facilities as Respiratory Illness Risk Rises
Israel and Hamas Agree to First Phase of Trump-Brokered Gaza Truce, Hostages to Be Freed
French Political Turmoil Elevates Marine Le Pen as Rassemblement National Poised for Power
China Unveils Sweeping Rare Earth Export Controls to Shield ‘National Security’
The Davos Set in Decline: Why the World Economic Forum’s Power Must Be Challenged
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
×