When Arsenal visited Queen Elizabeth II… and Eboue made her laugh
Theo Walcott shares ‘lovely memory’ of when Arsenal visited Queen Elizabeth II for afternoon tea in 2007… and Emmanuel Eboue made the monarch laugh by telling her ‘I want to look after your dogs!’
- Former Arsenal players shared their memories of meeting the Queen in 2007
- The north London side were invited to Buckingham Palace to have afternoon tea
- The Queen was due to open the newly-constructed Emirates Stadium in 2006
- As a result, the team were invited into her private apartments for a meeting
- Arsenal’s clash in Zurich on Thursday saw a minute’s silence to pay respect
- Full coverage: Click here to see all our coverage of the Queen’s passing
Former Arsenal stars have taken to social media to share their memories of a 2007 meeting with Her Majesty the Queen.
Her Majesty was due to cut the ribbon on the club’s newly-constructed Emirates Stadium after their move from Highbury in 2006, but was unable to attend, and instead invited the side to Buckingham Palace.
Both Theo Walcott and Emmanuel Eboue were members of the Arsenal squad when they were invited to have afternoon tea with Her Majesty the Queen 15 years ago.
The Queen invited the Arsenal squad to Buckingham Palace to have afternoon tea in 2007
Thierry Henry guided Her Majesty through his team-mates who she greeted individually
The Southampton winger, now 33, retweeted a video of the Gunners’ royal meeting with the caption: ‘Lovely memory this…’
And Ivory Coast right-back Eboue shared his memories of making Her Majesty laugh after telling her: ‘We went there & Thierry Henry said to me, “Please, Emmanuel, it’s the Queen’s house, don’t do anything”
But despite the warning from his captain, the notorious dressing room joker was unable to contain himself, and narrated a story that left both Her Majesty and the Duke of Edinburgh laughing.
The Gunners were invited to the Royal Palace after the Queen was unable to attend the opening of the Emirates Stadium in 2006
‘”No problem,” I said, “Don’t worry”. So the Queen came in & went along shaking each player’s hand.
‘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.”
‘[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!’
Arsene Wenger even suggested the grounds at Buckingham Palace were enough for 5-aside
A video was posted late on Thursday night from the Arsenal Presser Twitter account detailing the north London side’s visit to Buckingham Palace.
The video shows the likes of Arsene Wenger and Henry leading the party at the Queen’s private residence, before the French legend introduced each player individually to the monarch to shake her hand.
The Gunners had travelled to Switzerland to face Zurich in their opening group game of this season’s Europa League campaign, and only learnt the news of the Queen’s passing at half-time.
As a result the resumption of the second half was delayed so that both sides could pay their respects with a minute’s silence in memory of Her Majesty.
Both Arsenal and FC Zurich observed a minute’s silence at half-time to commemorate the Queen’s death
Old Trafford also fell silent as players and fans paid their respects to the late monarch prior to Man United’s Europa League opener
