Tory Grant Shapps told a mortifying anecdote about kissing the Queen’s hand as MPs paid tribute to the late monarch.
The former Transport Secretary rose to speak during a second day of tributes in the House of Commons.
He told the Commons how the Queen had saved him from feeling embarrassed during his Privy Council swearing in ceremony.
During the "ancient and complex" process of becoming a privy councillor at Buckingham Palace, Mr Shapps said he did not understand the meaning of the phrase "brush her hand" as part of the ceremonial oath-taking.
"Brush her hand? Was that an instruction to brush her hand with my hand, or a sleeve, or a handkerchief? And as I was about to ask, we were called into the actual performance of the great ceremony itself," he said.
Fifth in the line to become a privy councillor, Mr Shapps said he was unable to watch what other ministers were doing ahead of him, telling the Commons: "She stretched out her bare ungloved right hand and to my surprise moved it towards my face, it moved towards my lips. I pursed my lips. It stuck!"
With a smack of his lips, Mr Shapps added: "In what felt like an age, she was trying to pull it away and then suddenly... her hand pulled away."
The former minister said he wanted the ground to "swallow me whole" but added: "She looked me right in the eyes with those wonderful sparkling eyes, and as though to acknowledge what had happened and also to forgive me in one turn, she said 'Yes'.
"We never spoke of it again - God Save the King."
Later, a Labour former minister told the Commons how he became more supportive of the monarchy later in life, having never felt a strong connection with it in his youth.
Knowsley MP Sir George Howarth said: "I have to confess that I have not always felt supportive of the principle of the monarchy. As a young local councillor I once attended a function at which the loyal toast to the Queen was proposed.
"Foolishly I declined to take part, remaining firmly in my seat. My non-participation led to comment in our local paper and a strong backlash from the people I represented.
"I learnt two lessons from that episode - the first was that unnecessary courting of controversy was not a good thing to do, and secondly, that the people held our constitutional monarchy and the Queen in particular in enormous respect and affection."
He added: "By the time I was elected to this House more than a decade later I had come to the view that Her Majesty and the monarchy were a much-valued part of our national life.
"Her dedication and sense of duty in the ensuing years has served to strongly confirm me in that view."
