NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Lifestyle

I ate biscuits meant for the Queen's corgis, admits former minister

By Camilla Tominey
Daily Telegraph UK·
16 Mar, 2022 10:59 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

The Queen at Balmoral Castle with one of her corgis in 1952. Photo / Getty Images

The Queen at Balmoral Castle with one of her corgis in 1952. Photo / Getty Images

A British Cabinet minister who visited the Queen the day after the verdict of the inquest into the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, accidentally ate biscuits meant for Her Majesty's corgis, according to a new book.

Alan Johnson, the then health secretary, revealed how he inadvertently munched on the dog food following a meal at Windsor Castle - the day after the Diana inquest returned a verdict of unlawful killing in 2008.

According to Queen of Our Times, the latest book by Robert Hardman, a former Daily Telegraph journalist and former Labour MP, Johnson had no idea he had been eating dog biscuits until after he left the lunch with Paul Murphy, the then Welsh secretary.

"The two Cabinet ministers left in high spirits," the book reads. "'We were waiting for our cars and Paul said, 'What a wonderful meal'. I said, 'I loved it. I loved every minute of it.'

"As they discussed the food, Johnson mentioned that he had particularly enjoyed the cheese and the unusual dark biscuits. Paul said, 'No, the dark biscuits were for the corgis!'.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"At that point – to Alan Johnson's eternal amusement – it suddenly dawned on him that he had been munching away on dog snacks. 'I don't think I'd had cheese with a Bonio biscuit before'."

The Queen talks with Gordon Brown, David Miliband (centre) and Alan Johnson (right) during a ceremonial welcome for Jacob Zuma, the South African President. Photo / Getty Images
The Queen talks with Gordon Brown, David Miliband (centre) and Alan Johnson (right) during a ceremonial welcome for Jacob Zuma, the South African President. Photo / Getty Images

The ministers had both attended a Privy Council meeting before being invited to stay for lunch by the Queen.

Recalling how the newspapers were "full of the latest news on the Diana inquest", after 94 days in court and hearing 278 witnesses, Johnson told Hardman he thought he should "steer well clear" of the subject of the inquest.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The jury returned a verdict of unlawful killing, citing chauffeur Henri Paul's "gross negligence" and the "speed and manner" of the pursuing paparazzi.

It came after the judge ruled that there was "not a shred of evidence" to connect the crash to the secret services, let alone the Royal Family. An 18-month French judicial investigation, involving 200 witnesses, had already come to the same conclusion.

In the book, Johnson adds: "We talked about whatever was in the news, and the dominant news was about Diana. Paul and I thought we'd better keep off the subject. But the Queen talked about it in the most frank way, about how the thing had run and run and run."

Describing how he and Murphy were seated either side of the Queen, while the other end of the table was "full up with army people", Johnson said they had some "easy-going chat over drinks in the Grand Reception Room before the mood became "even livelier" at the table.

"At lunch, we had a whale of a time," he told Hardman. "She was good company. It was as if you'd known her for years. Obviously, there were the caveats that you understood – you don't put your arm on her shoulder and say, 'Let me tell you . . .' and so on."

As a Privy Counsellor, he wouldn't go into details, beyond saying that it was a perfectly natural, pleasant conversation. The informality continued right to the end, as the Queen chatted and fed snacks to her corgis at the same time.

The Queen often entertained visitors alongside her canine companions, as NZ Prime Minister John Key found in 2015. Photo / Getty Images
The Queen often entertained visitors alongside her canine companions, as NZ Prime Minister John Key found in 2015. Photo / Getty Images

It is not the first time dog biscuits have featured at a lunch with the Queen. Dr David Nott, a war surgeon, revealed how the 95-year-old monarch had helped him to overcome the trauma he witnessed in Aleppo during the Syrian war by allowing him to feed her corgis during a lunch at Buckingham Palace in 2014.

"All of a sudden the courtiers brought the corgis and the corgis went underneath the table," he told BBC's Desert Island Discs in 2016.

Nott said the Queen then opened a tin of biscuits and invited him to feed and stroke the dogs.

He added: "And so for 20 minutes during this lunch the Queen and I fed the dogs. She did it because she knew that I was so seriously traumatised. You know the humanity of what she was doing was unbelievable."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Lifestyle

Royals

'Rapprochement process': King Charles and Prince Harry aides meet for secret talks

13 Jul 10:02 PM
Opinion

Watch: Has Whittaker's gone bananas with new limited-edition block?

13 Jul 10:00 PM
Premium
Lifestyle

Sweden’s secret to well-being? Tiny urban gardens

13 Jul 06:00 AM

Get your kids involved in your reno

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Lifestyle

'Rapprochement process': King Charles and Prince Harry aides meet for secret talks

'Rapprochement process': King Charles and Prince Harry aides meet for secret talks

13 Jul 10:02 PM

The news signals an open line of communication between the two parties.

Watch: Has Whittaker's gone bananas with new limited-edition block?

Watch: Has Whittaker's gone bananas with new limited-edition block?

13 Jul 10:00 PM
Premium
Sweden’s secret to well-being? Tiny urban gardens

Sweden’s secret to well-being? Tiny urban gardens

13 Jul 06:00 AM
'Don't be nervous': Princess of Wales shares tender moment with young fan

'Don't be nervous': Princess of Wales shares tender moment with young fan

13 Jul 12:57 AM
Sponsored: Why heat pumps make winter cheaper
sponsored

Sponsored: Why heat pumps make winter cheaper

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP