Royal guest tripped over one of the Queen’s corgis – and she blamed their ‘terrible habit of lying in awkward places’

THE Queen’s corgis were her pride and joy but she had the best reaction when a guest tripped over one of the pooches during a visit.

According to her Majesty’s dresser, Angela Kelly, jeweller Harry Collins took a tumble when he was meeting with the royal at Buckingham Palace in 2000.

In her new book, The Other Side of the Coin: the Queen, the Dresser and the Wardrobe, Angela said that Harry had been presenting the Queen with a brooch he had designed for the Queen Mother’s 100th birthday.

She said: “Having read somewhere that where possible, one should not turn their back on The Queen, he proceeded to walk away backwards.

“Unfortunately, Mr Collins failed to notice Linnet, one of Her Majesty's corgis, lying on the floor behind him.

“He tripped over Linnet and ended up next to the dog, lying spread-eagled on the carpet.

"Terrified that he'd hurt one of The Queen's dogs, Harry frantically rubbed Linnet's chest, apologising profusely, but Her Majesty reassured Mr Collins and told him not to worry: it was not his fault as the corgis had a terrible habit of lying in the most awkward places."

The Queen has long been a champion of corgis after she received her first one, called Susan, for her 18th birthday in 1944.

The Queen fell in love with the breed, and all her subsequent corgis can trace their lineage to Susan.

Since then more than 30 of Susan’s line have lapped up the kind of treatment normally reserved for a head of state.

They had their own room at Buckingham Palace, where they slept in wicker beds with the sheets changed daily.

Dinner was at 5pm prompt but there was no canned food in sight. Instead, the diet of liver, chicken, rice and freshly caught rabbit, often from the royal estates, was prepared by chefs.

And it has emerged that bizarrely the beloved pets are fed in “order of seniority” and each has their own specially devised menu.

According to social anthropologist Kate Fox, Her Majesty, 93, loves corgis because they're her "alter-egos" and act as her "inner child".

Although she became an expert in the breed over the years, she made the decision to stop breeding them five years ago.

Her Majesty is said to have feared tripping over them, and also worried about who would care for them if she was no longer able to herself.

Her final one, Willow, died last year after she stopped breeding them in 2015.

The Queen still has two dogs - Vulcan and Candy - who are a cross-breed between one of her corgis and late sister Princess Margaret’s dachshund Pipkin.

We previously told you that she fed them her own secret-recipe gravy which was served to them by a footman on a silver tray.

The Queen’s ‘angered’ Prince Charles by ‘picking ticks off her corgis and throwing them in the fire’.

And Angela also revealed that the Queen only uses SIX of Buckingham Palace’s 775 rooms as she is ‘very modest’.