The rule is that if anybody is in the garden, apart from the gardeners, they must leave. Nobody is allowed to talk to her unless she speaks first. She likes to be left on her own because it's her thinking time.

It's not an informal occasion, with the children popping their heads around the corner saying, 'mum, can I join you?' the Queen will send her page with a message to invite them.

Nobody else is present, no notes are taken, no Prime Minister has ever revealed what goes on.