Boris Johnson says he was reduced to tears during Queen interview

Boris Johnson said he was "moved by the 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 to Elizabeth II and recounted what he described as "a personal confession".

"A few months ago the BBC came to me to talk about Her Majesty The Queen. And we sat down and the cameras started rolling. And they asked me to talk about she in the past tense," he said.

"And I'm afraid I just choked up and couldn't go on. I'm really not easily moved to tears, but I I was so overwhelmed with how sad I was to ask them to leave."

Mr Johnson, who visited the Queen at Balmoral to quit just three days ago, added: "I know that today countless people in this country and around the world have experienced the same sudden outburst of unexpected emotion."

RecommendedBoris Johnson's own moral failings diminished all around him< p>He was speaking to a packed parliament on Friday as MP after MP rose to pay tribute to the monarch - with dedications set to continue into the evening and into Saturday.

In an earlier statement, Mr Johnson dubbed the Queen 'Elizabeth the Great', because she is 'the most ancient and in many ways the best monarch in our history."

Speaking in the Commons on Friday, he said: "It was her impulse to do her duty that brought her to her 10th decade until the very moment at Balmoral, as my right hon. friend [Liz Truss] said, just three days ago, when she saw her 14th Prime Minister and welcomed her 15th.

< p>"I can tell you, in that audience, she was as radiant and as knowledgeable and as fascinated by politics as I ever remembered and as wise in s his advice than anyone i know if not wiser. ”

The ex-Prime Minister, who was kicked out by his party after a series of sordid scandals, told MPs the Queen had 'humility' and a 'refusal to be grandiose ".

"Unlike us politicians, with our precursors and our armored convoys, I can tell you as a direct eyewitness that she drove herself in her own car without detectives or guards of the body, bouncing at alarming speed across the Scottish landscape to the utter awe of the walkers and tourists we encountered,” he said.

Praising “the indomitable spirit with which she created my Archy," he concluded: "That today we can say with such confidence - God Save the King - is a tribute to him, but especially to Elizabeth the Great, who worked so hard for the good of his country, not just now but for generations to come.”