LASTING BOND BETWEEN STAR AND MONARCH

ROYAL CHUMS With Queen, 2005. Left, Camilla, in 2022

- BY TOM BRYANT

PAUL O'Grady arrived at Lady Elizabeth Anson's house for what he thought was a routine visit to see his longstanding friend who had been unwell.

He carried a WH Smith bag, as he often did, and was led into the kitchen, where to his surprise, the Queen was already there, having a cup of tea.

Paul later admitted he was a little embarrassed by his disheveled appearance, but he did not let it show.

But the encounter marked the beginning of an extraordinary secret friendship between Paul and the late Queen that today can be revealed for the first time.

"It was, I have since learnt, one of many such encounters Paul enjoyed with the Queen," writes his friend and producer Malcolm Prince, in his new book, Paul O'Grady - Not The Same Without You.

"He kept his association relatively quiet, and rarely mentioned it on air or in public. If he did mention the royals, his viewers and listeners would not know if he was joking; after all, would you have believed him if he told you he had had tea with the Queen?"

On that occasion, Her Majesty thanked Paul for being such a loyal friend to her cousin, and for being a regular visitor to her during her illness.

"Paul replied he had been friends with her for many years and his concern was the same he would show to anyone," Malcolm writes.

Labour peer and actor Michael Cashman, who was close friends with Paul, says the late Queen loved how down to earth he was.

"Paul was not impressed by wealth or privilege. He loved truth and he loved honesty, and I think that is why the Queen found him so interesting and why she engaged with him so often as she did," he says.