Boris Johnson's furious question after awkward grilling from the Queen

22 January 2024 , 16:16

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Boris Johnson was the Queen's 14th Prime Minister (Image: PA)

Over the course of her 70-year reign, the Queen worked with a total of 15 Prime Ministers. Fans of The Crown will know she became accustomed to the monarch-Prime Minister relationship with her first government counterpart, Winston Churchill.

She went on to establish partnerships with over a dozen more, including Margaret Thatcher, John Major in the 90s, Tony Blair, and her last PM, Liz Truss, whom she appointed just days before she passed away at Balmoral.

From July 2019 until he tendered his resignation on 6 September 2022, Boris Johnson served as the country's Prime Minister. As such, he had to make his own connection with the Queen.

And there was vital one lesson that Boris had to quickly learn; time spent on homework before an audience with the Queen was vital.

In his book, Hardman states: "At around the time that his government was embroiled in a lobbying scandal involving a healthcare company, Johnson came storming out of an audience with the Queen, demanding, 'Why the hell did no one tell me that Randox sponsors the Grand National?'"

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The scandal at the time concerned Owen Paterson. It was revealed that he had started work as a paid consultant for Randox in August 2015, seven months before he was given the job of finding a new sponsor for the Grand National.

The search ended in March 2016, when Randox – a company that had previously had a very low profile, both inside and outside racing – signed a five-year sponsorship deal.

Kathryn Stone, the parliamentary commissioner for standards, described it as an 'egregious' breach of the rules on paid advocacy. And, as a result, Paterson resigned as an MP.

As a horse lover, the Queen was no doubt familiar with all things related to the Grand National. But her knowledge of current affairs was formidable.

Former PM Gordon Brown previously admitted he could be left 'embarrassed' during meetings with the Queen, revealing the former monarch was often better informed about current affairs than he was.

He recalled how the Queen questioned, "Why have these bankers got it all wrong?" in 2008, when the financial crash led to the UK entering recession.

Mr Brown, who was Prime Minister between 2007 and 2010, told how Elizabeth II "actually knew better about what was happening to the country" than he did during his time in Number 10.

Speaking on the BBC's Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme, the former Labour leader said: "She would listen, she would ask questions. She would be endlessly knowledgeable about everything happening in the Commonwealth.

"I was very embarrassed one day because I went in to see her at six o'clock, I didn't know that one of the Commonwealth leaders had been ousted and a new government had been formed. She was telling me what was happening when I was supposed to report to her."

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