Henry's charm, Eboue's corgis joke & the amazing story of the day the Queen invited Arsenal over for tea

Arsenal had moved from Highbury to Emirates Stadium in 2006, ending a 93-year stay in their iconic north London home.

The short move to the club’s new base at Ashburton Grove was a costly one and to mark the occasion, they wanted a special grand opening. And what would be grander than the Queen cutting the ribbon to officially declare the Emirates open?

It was all agreed, but unfortunately a back injury forced the Queen to cancel on the morning of Thursday, October 26, with Prince Philip doing the honours instead.

While it was still a special occasion for Arsenal, the event was tinged with disappointment - especially as the plaque that Prince Phillip unveiled had already been engraved with the wording ‘officially opened by Her Majesty the Queen’.

But to make up for her late cancellation, the Queen then invited the Arsenal first-team squad and members of the club hierarchy to Buckingham Palace for afternoon tea in February 2007.

Thierry Henry was Arsenal captain at the time, so he led what was a relatively young squad to Buckingham Palace.

There were still a few of the old guard from the Invincibles era, such as Freddie Ljungberg, Gilberto Silva and Jens Lehmann.

But there were plenty of young faces on show, with the likes of Cesc Fabregas, Just Hoyte, Denilson and Theo Walcott all present.

Wenger was there of course, as were Arsenal’s chairman at the time, Peter Hill-Wood, and club director Ken Friar.

After arriving by coach, the Arsenal squad was greeted by the Buckingham Palace doormen and the players made their way inside.

They were then met by royal collections expert Desmond Shawe-Taylor, who took them around the Palace for a private tour of the state apartments.

The event was captured by a BBC documentary, with Shawe-Taylor admitting he was ‘nervous’ to be coming face to face with some of the Arsenal squad.

"I’m not usually doing it for superstars," he said. "I’m trying to remember my words when Thierry Henry is facing me. I feel like a defender."

After the guided tour the squad then gathered in one of the main rooms for their afternoon tea and waited for the Queen.

As you would expect given the surroundings, it was far from your average tea menu.

There were plenty of tasty delights on offer for the Arsenal squad, including Montgomery cheddar and fig chutney on granary, roast beef and dijon mustard on sweetened brioche, smoked salmon and cucumber on royal crown tortano bread and roast beef on brioche. 

There was also a selection of clotted cream and jam scones, fresh fruit tartlets, chocolate cake and pistachio macaroons.

Most things went down very well, although goalkeeper Manuel Almunia struggled a bit when it came to quenching his thirst.

"I don’t really like tea," he said. "But you have to do it here."

After finishing with the food, the Arsenal squad then gathered together and waited for Her Majesty.

The Queen, accompanied by her corgis, arrived and was met by Arsene Wenger, Peter Hill-Wood and Ken Friar.

Wenger then introduced Henry, who led the Queen over to the rest of the squad and introduced the players one by one.

"You have a very international side," she said, after meeting Julio Baptista, Gilberto Silva, Denilson, Lehmann and Emmanuel Eboue.

"It went really nicely," Henry said afterwards. "I have no words to describe the experience the Queen has given us."

Emmanuel Eboue was always known as the joker of the Arsenal dressing room around that time, with the Ivory Coast star prone to pulling the odd practical joke.

So much so that Henry warned him against doing anything when the squad got to the Palace.

"Thierry Henry said to me, 'Please, Emmanuel, it's the Queen's house, don't do anything'. 'No problem,' I said, 'Don’t worry'."

Eboue did as promised and was on his best behaviour during the meet and greet.

But, just as the Queen was about to make her exit, the defender had everyone in hysterics when he made a cheeky request.

"After she’d finished, I saw all her corgis so I said, ‘Ma’am, Ma’am’," Eboue recalled.

"She turned back and asked, ‘How are you?’. I said, ‘Ma’am, I am okay thank you, but please, I don’t want to be a footballer anymore, 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!"

To mark the occasion and to say thank you to the Queen, Arsenal presented her with a gift before they left.

Indeed, the Queen looked extremely pleased with the item - a silver cannon.

"It’s not to incite you to make war," Wenger joked as it was handed over.

The Palace staff, who had all gathered to get a glimpse of the Arsenal squad, then gave the team a round of applause as they made their way back to the coach.