On why she wears bright colours on royal appearances: "If I wore beige, nobody would know who I am."
When opening an exhibition of artist Lucian Freud's nude paintings, the Queen told her aide she had been very careful to make sure she "was not photographed between a pair of those great thighs."
During that same trip, a curator asked the Queen if she had ever been painted by Lucian Freud. She smiled and said, "Yes, but not like that."
At an investiture ceremony, a member of the Queen's staff dropped the cushion holding the medals. "Just put them back any way you can. I'll give them anything and you can sort it out afterwards," she said.