Queen Elizabeth II death: Former Arsenal star narrates hilarious 'corgi chat' with Queen

The Arsenal team was led by Arsene Wenger and captain Thierry Henry as they visited Buckingham Palace in 2007.

Arsenal is the only football club in England to be invited for tea with Queen Elizabeth II - Britain's longest reigning monarch, who passed away on Thursday. The invitation to the Gunners came a year after the Queen was unable to attend the opening of the Emirates Stadium, graced by the Duke of Edinburgh in 2006.

Former Arsenal defender Emmanuel Eboue was part of the visiting team in February 2007, which was led by manager Arsene Wenger and captain Thierry Henry. The former Ivory Coast international was known to be a comedian within the Arsenal ranks, which saw him receive a warning from the club captain about his behaviour.

15th February 2007: Queen Elizabeth became the first monarch to host a football team at Buckingham Palace as Arsenal visited. The invitation came after the Queen was unable to attend the opening of the Emirates Stadium, done by the Duke of Edinburgh, the previous October. #afc pic.twitter.com/IJBwlKYazZ
— afcstuff (@afcstuff) September 8, 2022

"We went there & Thierry Henry said to me, 'Please, Emmanuel, it's the Queen's house, don't do anything'. 'No problem,' I said, 'Don't worry'. So the Queen came in & went along shaking each player's hand," Eboue said, as per AFC Stuff.

The Ivorian was on his best behaviour as the Queen greeted all the players, but was fascinated after seeing the Her Majesty's corgis following her into the room. Eboue betrayed his promise and engaged in a conversation with the Queen, which left not only the now former British monarch, but also the late Prince Philip in stiches.

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip — Queen Elizabeth II and her husband Prince Philip retired to Windsor Castle, outside London, on March 19. POOL / Alastair Grant

"After she'd finished, I saw all her corgis so I said, 'Ma'am, Ma'am'. She turned back & asked, 'How are you?'. I said, 'Ma'am, I am okay thank you, but please, I don't want to be a footballer any more, I want to look after your dogs,'" he added.

"[I said to the Queen] I want to take them for walks, wash them, feed them. I want to be a dog carer. The Queen, honestly, she was laughing. Prince Philip was laughing too. All the team were laughing!"

Arsenal visited FC Zurich for their opening Europa League group game on Thursday night. During half-time, the team learnt of Queen Elizabeth's passing, after which a moment of silence was observed by both teams before the start of the second period.

"Her Majesty gave remarkable service over eight decades to the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth and we join together with so many around the world in mourning her passing and wish to extend our deepest sympathies to the Royal Family," Arsenal said via a statement.