Former Prime Minister Theresa May has recalled the Queen's generous reaction when she made a serious faux pas at a picnic in Balmoral.
Mrs May paid an emotional tribute to the monarch during a special session in the House of Commons following the 96-year-old's death yesterday at the Scottish castle.
She made a clanger while "mucking in" and transferring cheese from hampers onto the tables, only to accidentally drop it.
To her horror, she realised the whole thing had been witnessed by the head of state.
"The cheese fell on the floor. I had a split second decision to make," the ex-PM recalled to loud laughter.
"I picked up the cheese, put it on the plate and put it on the table. I turned around and saw 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 just remained on the plate."
Mrs May described her weekly meetings with the Queen as "special" and said she fondly recalled weekends at Balmoral, stating: "She'd take an interest in what books were placed in our rooms and she didn't always want to be the centre of attention."
She said her husband had once dreamed he was being driven around the Scottish royal residence by the Queen - only to realise it was reality.
Mrs May told the Commons: "Queen Elizabeth II was quite simply the most remarkable person I have ever met".
During her tribute in the Commons, Maidenhead MP Mrs May also recounted her weekly audiences with the monarch during her time as prime minister.
She said: "Across the nations of the world, for so many people, meeting Queen Elizabeth simply made their day and for many will be the memory of their life.
"Of course, for those of us who had the honour to serve as one of her prime ministers, those meetings were more frequent with the weekly audiences.
"These were not meetings with a high and mighty monarch, but a conversation with a woman of experience and knowledge and immense wisdom. They were also the one meeting I went to, which I knew it would not be briefed out to the media."
The comment was met with laughter by MPs, before Mrs May added: "What made those audiences so special was the understanding the Queen had of issues which came from the work she put into her red boxes, combined with her years of experience."
