Watch: Theresa May’s cheese tribute to the Queen

There’s a grim mood in parliament today. Across the House, MPs are queuing up to pay tribute to Her Majesty with Boris Johnson and Keir Starmer delivering two noticeably excellent speeches. But some light relief on this dark day has been offered by recollections of the Queen’s sense of humour and ability to make people feel at ease, no matter their background. And it was Theresa May who got one of the few laughs of the day when she recalled staying with the royal family at Balmoral. She told the House of a picnic she had with the late monarch:

The hampers came from the castle and we all mucked in to put the food and drink out on the table. I picked up some cheese, put it on a plate and was transferring it to the table. The cheese fell on the floor. I had a split-second decision to make.