Guard reveals the time he almost shot the Queen

Unconfirmed anecdotes and rumours surrounding the Queen abound, mostly because of the vast shroud of secrecy surrounding her private life.

That is one of the reasons why the Netflix's The Crown, which shows a through-the-keyhole view of the royals, turned out to be so popular.

The public yearns to know all the gossip and quirky stuff going on behind closed doors.

One of these episodes has recently been narrated by an ex-guardsman to The Times diary.

The Queen reportedly loves late-night walks, particularly when she struggles to sleep.

She'd put on a coat and take a stroll around the palace grounds -- as you would probably do if you could.

However, on one occasion the walk could've been fatal.

It was 3 a.m. and the guardsman was patrolling inside the perimeter of Buckingham Palace when he spotted a "figure in the darkness."

Immediately, he thought of an intruder and shouted: "Who's that?"

To his surprise, it was the Queen.

"Bloody hell, Your Majesty, I nearly shot you,” he impulsively said (note: that's definitely not the way to talk to Her Majesty).

Realising this wasn't the right tone to address the Queen, he expected to be told off.

But HM instead replied:

“That’s quite all right. Next time I’ll ring through beforehand so you don’t have to shoot me.”