Boris Johnson has said he was “moved to tears” during an interview about the Queen and had to ask a film crew to leave.
Speaking in the House of Commons the former prime minister paid tribute the Elizabeth II and recounted what he described as “a personal confession”.
“A few months ago the BBC came to see me to talk about Her Majesty the Queen. And we sat down and the cameras started rolling. And they requested that I should talk about her in the past tense,” he said.
“And I’m afraid I simply choked up and I couldn’t go on. I’m really not easily moved to tears, but I was so overcome with sadness, that I had to ask them to go away.”
Mr Johnson, who went to see the Queen at Balmoral to resign just three days ago, added: “I know that today there are countless people in this country and around the world, who have experienced the same sudden access of unexpected emotion.”
He was speaking at a packed houses of parliament on Friday as MP after MP stood up to pay tribute the monarch – with dedications expected to continue into the evening and on Saturday.
In an earlier statement Mr Johnson branded the Queen “Elizabeth the Great”, on account of her being “the longest serving and in many ways the finest monarch in our history”.
Speaking in the Commons on Friday he said: “That impulse to do her duty carried her right through into her 10th decade to the very moment in Balmoral, as my right honourable friend has said, only three days ago, when she saw off her 14th prime minister, and welcomed her 15th.
“I can tell you, in that audience, she was as radiant and as knowledgeable and as fascinated by politics as ever I can remember and as wise in her advice as anyone I know, if not wiser.”
The ex-PM, who was forced out by his party after a series of sleaze scandals, told MPs the Queen had “humility” and a “refusal to be grand”.
“Unlike us politicians, with our outriders and our armour-plated convoys, I can tell you as a direct eye witness that she drove herself in her own car with no detectives and no bodyguard, bouncing at alarming speed over the Scottish landscape to the total amazement of the ramblers and the tourists we encountered,” he said.
Praising the “indomitable spirit with which she created the modern constitutional monarchy”, he concluded: “The fact that today we can say with such confidence – God Save the King – is a tribute to him, but above all to Elizabeth the Great, who worked so hard for the good of her country, not just now but for generations to come.”
Liz Truss said the Queen was “one of the greatest leaders the world has even known” and hailed her as “a champion of freedom and democracy around the world”.
Praising her “sheer humanity”, the new prime minister said: “She re-invented the monarchy for the modern age. She was a champion of freedom and democracy around the world. She was willing to have fun – whether on a mission with 007 or having tea with Paddington Bear.”
Referring to a new “Carolean age” as she closed her speech, Ms Truss said Charles “has already made a profound contribution through his work on conservation, education, and his tireless diplomacy – we owe him our loyalty and devotion”.
