The Queen at Balmoral Castle with one of her corgis in 1952. Photo / Getty Images
The Queen at Balmoral Castle with one of her corgis in 1952. Photo / Getty Images
A British Cabinet minister who visited the Queen the day after the verdict of the inquest into the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, accidentally ate biscuits meant for Her Majesty's corgis, according to a new book.
Alan Johnson, the then health secretary, revealed how he inadvertently munched on the dog food following a meal at Windsor Castle - the day after the Diana inquest returned a verdict of unlawful killing in 2008.
According to Queen of Our Times, the latest book by Robert Hardman, a former Daily Telegraph journalist and former Labour MP, Johnson had no idea he had been eating dog biscuits until after he left the lunch with Paul Murphy, the then Welsh secretary.
"The two Cabinet ministers left in high spirits," the book reads. "'We were waiting for our cars and Paul said, 'What a wonderful meal'. I said, 'I loved it. I loved every minute of it.'
"As they discussed the food, Johnson mentioned that he had particularly enjoyed the cheese and the unusual dark biscuits. Paul said, 'No, the dark biscuits were for the corgis!'.
"At that point – to Alan Johnson's eternal amusement – it suddenly dawned on him that he had been munching away on dog snacks. 'I don't think I'd had cheese with a Bonio biscuit before'."
The Queen talks with Gordon Brown, David Miliband (centre) and Alan Johnson (right) during a ceremonial welcome for Jacob Zuma, the South African President. Photo / Getty Images
The ministers had both attended a Privy Council meeting before being invited to stay for lunch by the Queen.
Recalling how the newspapers were "full of the latest news on the Diana inquest", after 94 days in court and hearing 278 witnesses, Johnson told Hardman he thought he should "steer well clear" of the subject of the inquest.
The jury returned a verdict of unlawful killing, citing chauffeur Henri Paul's "gross negligence" and the "speed and manner" of the pursuing paparazzi.
It came after the judge ruled that there was "not a shred of evidence" to connect the crash to the secret services, let alone the Royal Family. An 18-month French judicial investigation, involving 200 witnesses, had already come to the same conclusion.
In the book, Johnson adds: "We talked about whatever was in the news, and the dominant news was about Diana. Paul and I thought we'd better keep off the subject. But the Queen talked about it in the most frank way, about how the thing had run and run and run."
Describing how he and Murphy were seated either side of the Queen, while the other end of the table was "full up with army people", Johnson said they had some "easy-going chat over drinks in the Grand Reception Room before the mood became "even livelier" at the table.
"At lunch, we had a whale of a time," he told Hardman. "She was good company. It was as if you'd known her for years. Obviously, there were the caveats that you understood – you don't put your arm on her shoulder and say, 'Let me tell you . . .' and so on."
As a Privy Counsellor, he wouldn't go into details, beyond saying that it was a perfectly natural, pleasant conversation. The informality continued right to the end, as the Queen chatted and fed snacks to her corgis at the same time.
The Queen often entertained visitors alongside her canine companions, as NZ Prime Minister John Key found in 2015. Photo / Getty Images
It is not the first time dog biscuits have featured at a lunch with the Queen. Dr David Nott, a war surgeon, revealed how the 95-year-old monarch had helped him to overcome the trauma he witnessed in Aleppo during the Syrian war by allowing him to feed her corgis during a lunch at Buckingham Palace in 2014.
"All of a sudden the courtiers brought the corgis and the corgis went underneath the table," he told BBC's Desert Island Discs in 2016.
Nott said the Queen then opened a tin of biscuits and invited him to feed and stroke the dogs.
He added: "And so for 20 minutes during this lunch the Queen and I fed the dogs. She did it because she knew that I was so seriously traumatised. You know the humanity of what she was doing was unbelievable."
