The Queen always carried her own personal box of chocolates with her - and the reason why is hilarious. Her Majesty, who sadly passed away on Thursday at her home in Balmoral, felt unable to leave her sweet treats unattended in a room without coming back and finding they had all vanished.
Lady Pamela Hicks, her former lady-in-waiting and close friend, revealed secrets of life with Her Majesty in ITV documentary My Years With The Queen. While going through her never before seen diaries, which detail her years growing up and travelling alongside the Queen, Lady Pamela recalled the hilarious story surrounding her love of chocolate.
For the latest updates as the world mourns the Queen and King Charles III's reign begins, follow our live blog.
She explaieds that when the Queen went to stay with anyone she would always bring a box of chocolates for the hostess.
But she would also bring a personal box for herself that she didn't want to share with the rest of her "greedy" family, who would scoff the lot before she had any.
Lady Pamela, the daughter of Lord Louis Mountbatten, great great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria and cousin to Prince Philip, said it was the Queen's side of the family who couldn't help themselves.
"She does have her own box of chocolates and has learnt to keep it in her room otherwise she says the family are so greedy they all eat them before she can. Not our family her family," said Lady Pamela.
There was also an incident of chocolate theft that could not be blamed on the royals, as it was Lady Pamela's pet mongoose who was responsible.
Lady Pamela returned from India with her new pet called Nayola, who developed a habit of entering the Queen's bedroom and stealing her tasty treats.
"One evening we were waiting for her to come down to dinner and it was very unusual for the Queen that she was four or five minutes late," explained Lady Pamela.
"She said to me, 'I don't mind Nayola coming into my room, in fact I quite enjoy it. I don’t mind Nayola opening my box of chocolate but does he always have to take a bite out of every one?'."
There are few people better placed to divulge The Queen's secrets then Lady Pamela, who has known her all her life and was a bridesmaid at her wedding to prince Philip in 1947.
Exposing the chaos behind the scenes during the big day, Lady Pamela revealed not everything went to plan at Buckingham Palace before the ceremony.
There was panic when Princess Elizabeth couldn't find the pearls she wanted to wear and her private secretary dashed across London to get them for her - then she couldn't find her bouquet at the last minute.
Talking about the wedding and being on the balcony at Buckingham Palace afterwards, Lady Pamela says: "I was on cloud nine really. Tremendous excitement.
"It's an extraordinary sight. There was an enormous crowd. They were a star couple.
"They were very much in love. I would say she was very much in love and he grew in love."
The families were so close that history would repeat itself three decades later as Lady Pamela's daughter India was a bridesmaid at Prince Charles and Lady Diana's wedding in 1981.
As lady-in-waiting, Lady Pamela travelled across the globe with The Queen, including on a six month trip to the Caribbean, Pacific, Asia, Africa and Europe after her Coronation.
Rather than being a professional lady in waiting, Lady Pamela was much more of a friend ready to have a "giggle" with The Queen and they spent all their time together.
Looking back at old footage, she discusses their time in Ceylon, Sri Lanka and reveals how The Queen almost ‘roasted’ it was so unbearably hot.
"Lilabet almost boiled alive. So despite her protests I held the parasol over her," she explained.
The Queen's dress had its own cabin which was much bigger than Lady Pamela’s, who has admitted she was "very jealous".
They had a punishing schedule while on tour in Australia and it was hard for the Queen to get away from royal watchers even on her days off.
"I sat with Lillibet under a tree, listening to her holding forth about being marooned on a desert island and left there to be eaten from creepy crawly things," Lady Pamela read from a journal entry detailing the Australian tour.
Some tourists came along looking for The Queen but failed to recognise her so she showed off her cheeky side by pretending she was somewhere else.
Lady Pamela explained: "But she cheered up considerably when a boatload of trippers appeared shouting whether we had seen The Queen, where is she?
"Lillibet in slacks, tore down to the beach, pointed to the other side of the island and yelled, 'she went that-a-way' and jumped up and down with joy as the boat disappeared around the corner."
* This weekend, the Daily Mirror and Sunday Mirror celebrate the life of Her Majesty the Queen with a commemorative special filled with all the key moments from Britain’s longest reigning monarch. Be sure to pick up your copy of the Daily Mirror and Sunday Mirror to get poth pullouts.
You can leave your tributes to Queen Elizabeth II here
