The Queen is a fan of late-night walks. When she struggles to sleep she will sometimes put on a mac and walk around the palace grounds, an ex-guardsman told me. On one occasion he was patrolling inside the perimeter of the Palace walls at 3am when he spotted a figure in the darkness. Thinking that he had come across an intruder, he shouted: “Who’s that?” To his surprise it was the Queen. “Bloody hell, Your Majesty, I nearly shot you,” he blurted out. Realising that he had spoken out of turn, he waited for a dressing-down. “That’s quite all right,” HM replied. “Next time I’ll ring through beforehand so you don’t have to shoot me.”



You can always rely on taxi drivers for local wisdom.