NOW, ARISE SIR PARKY

She was one of the few interviews Parkinson, 73, could not land in a career spanning half a century.

However, the recently retired broadcaster – and one-time Daily Express reporter – found plenty to chat about with the Queen. They discussed the wedding of Princess Anne’s son Peter Phillips and Sir Michael’s personal assistant Autumn Kelly which both attended last month.

But Parkinson, pictured with proud wife Mary after the ceremony, forgot investiture protocol that he should step back from the Queen, and admitted going “sideways like a crab”. He told of his nerves and then relaxed with a joke. Examining the knighthood, he said: “It’ll be on eBay tonight.”