Marr told a Royal Television Society event that the Queen made the quip to an aide after an open carriage ride with Mr Putin.

“She and Putin were in the carriage coming from here [Parliament] to Buckingham Palace and because it as an open carriage and there was a translator everyone could see them talking as they went up the Mall,” he said.

Marr said a palace contact told him a royal aide had later said to the Queen: “Your Majesty, you were talking to the Russian President very vigorously – can I ask what you were talking about,”

According to the interviewer, the Queen replied: “I was just trying to say to myself all the time that this is the President of Russia and not that chap from the BBC.”

Responding to a question about how the BBC was viewed around the world compared to other broadcasters, Marr also said the corporation was well regarded and “very different from Russia Today, which is a straightforward propaganda channel for Vladimir Putin”.