Queen's Dog Biscuits Eaten by Government Minister in Bizarre Gaffe

Queen Elizabeth II's dog biscuits were eaten by a former U.K. government minister in a particularly unusual royal gaffe, according to a new biography of the monarch.

Alan Johnson was health secretary when he was invited to have lunch with Elizabeth at Windsor after attending a meeting of the privy council in 2008.

And it was when the cheese course appeared that he reached for a biscuit to accompany his desert, according to new royal book Queen Of Our Times: The Life Of Elizabeth II.

The Labour Party politician only realised his mistake later after discussing the meal with colleague Paul Murphy, the Welsh secretary at the time.

Quoted in the book, Johnson said: "We were waiting for our cars and Paul said, 'What a wonderful meal.' I said, 'I loved it. I loved every minute of it'."

Author Robert Hardman wrote: "As they discussed the food, Mr Johnson mentioned that he had particularly enjoyed the cheese and the unusual dark biscuits.

"But Mr Murphy then said: 'No, the dark biscuits were for the corgis!'

"It suddenly dawned on Mr Johnson that he had been munching away on dog snacks. 'I don't think I'd had cheese with a Bonio biscuit before,' he joked."

Royal gaffes are common place among world leaders who meet the queen without a full understanding of the multitude of royal rules and customs.

Johnson's mistake, however, was perhaps a little more obvious than the arcane protocols that usually trip up politicians.

Joe Biden made a more mundane gaffe when he didn't take off his dark glasses in glaring sunshine as he met the queen at Windsor Castle in June, 2021.

Grant Harrold, a royal etiquette expert, at the time told Newsweek: "If you're meeting the queen face-to-face there's no sunglasses or anything like that at all because eye contact is quite important with any introduction.

"It's fine for Biden to have had sunglasses on but he should have removed them when he actually met the queen."

The meeting came at the end of the G7 summit that took place in Cornwall, southwest England.

Donald Trump failed to bow to the Monarch and then walked in front of her in a double protocol breach in 2018, The Independent reported.

And Michelle Obama hugged the queen on meeting her in 2012, seemingly unaware of royal rules around not touching Elizabeth.

However, the British head of state appeared to take the slip up in good humor and hugged her American guest back.