Boris Bikes get royal seal of approval - "they're lovely," says the Queen

The Queen has revealed that she is a fan of London’s dark blue Boris Bikes – although unlike her counterparts in ‘bicycle monarchies’ such as the Netherlands and Denmark, it’s a pretty safe bet that Her Majesty will never be seen riding through the streets of the capital on two wheels.

According to The Daily Telegraph, during yesterday’s visit to upmarket grocer Fortnum & Mason, when she was accompanied by the Duchesses of Cornwall and Cambridge, the Queen told Mayor of London Boris Johnson, “At least I didn’t have to come down here today on one of your bikes,” reports The Daily Telegraph.

A worried Mr Johnson, who launched the Barclays Cycle Hire Scheme in summer 2010, asked the Queen, who celebrates her Diamond Jubilee this year, “Oh, gosh, don’t you like my bikes?”

She quickly reassured him: “Oh, yes, I think they’re lovely. In fact, I notice the bike racks are often empty.”

Sadly, there’s more chance of the ravens flying away from the Tower of London than there is of ever seeing the Queen on one of the dark blue bikes.

Mind you, we suppose the Duchess of Cambridge could have wheeled out the tandem Boris Bike that the Mayor gave her and Prince William as a wedding gift last year and ridden the half-mile or so from Buckingham Palace with her grandmother-in-law as a passenger, with Camilla riding solo alongside them?