Queen Elizabeth II once offered Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill a Dukedom, which he refused for one reason only. The late Queen had a close bond with Churchill as he was the first prime minister of her reign.
In fact, the late Queen got on so well with the late prime minister that she went to a dinner at No 10 Downing Street when he left his role as PM for the final time in 1955. She also attended his funeral at St Paul's Cathedral, which was considered a rare honour as monarchs did not usually attend non-family funerals.
Speaking about their bond in his book, Power and the Palace, Valentine Low stated that the late Queen was reportedly open to offering Churchill a Dukedom, despite the Palace only wanting these titles to be given to royals.
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It is believed Queen Elizabeth II still wanted to offer it to Churchill, as long as Downing Street would guarantee he would turn it down.
While people close to the former prime minister believed his answer would be a straight no, it turns out he was actually considering accepting the offer, until he realised the one unusual reason why he didn't want to.
Low wrote in his book that when asked why he declined her offer by his private secretary John Colville, Churchill said: “Well, you know, I very nearly accepted, I was so moved by her beauty and charm and the kindness with which she made this offer, that for a moment I thought of accepting.
“But finally I remembered that I must die as I have always been - Winston Churchill.”
He then said: “And so I asked her to forgive me for not accepting it. And, do you know, it’s an odd thing, but she seemed almost relieved.”
While the late Queen always kept her opinion on political figures private, it is believed she had a great relationship with Churchill, with the pair often speaking about horse racing when they were together.
It was also revealed that they used to share a good sense of humour, with the late Elizabeth’s Private Secretary Tommy Lascelles once writing in his diary: “I could not hear what they talked about, but it was, more often than not, punctuated by peals of laughter, and Winston generally came out wiping his eyes.”
Churchill also got on well with the late Queen’s father, King George VI.