Queen: Gordon Brown hails ‘respected, admired and revered’ Monarch

During his tenure as Prime Minister he had weekly audiences with Her Majesty - meetings which are always confidential and off the record.

Paying tribute following her death last week, Mr Brown said the Monarch “actually knew better about what was happening to the country” than he did.

His comments referred to the banking crash of 2008 which happened while he was at 10 Downing Street.

Speaking on the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme, Mr Brown recalled: “She would listen, she would ask questions.

“Shed would be endlessly knowledgeable about everything happening in the Commonwealth.

And he gave one glimpse into their weekly briefings.

“I was very embarrassed one day because I went in to her, and I didn’t know one of the Commonwealth leaders had been ousted and a new Government formed.”

In a formal tribute, he described The Queen as someone who “reigned with the country's love, forever to be respected, admired, revered, and adored.”

Mr Brown: added: “No monarch has lived longer. Fifteen Prime Ministers have come and gone, as have 13 American presidents, all but one of whom she met, as have hundreds of Commonwealth leaders.

“She has led our armed forces through tumultuous events from Suez to the Falkland Islands and, most recently, Afghanistan.

I know from my audiences with her that she was Commander in Chief not just in an official capacity but in her heart, and she felt deeply the loss of every young life as if it were her own child.”