The 87-year-old monarch was so incensed she drew lines on the sides of the bowls to see where levels had dipped, the phone hacking trial of journalists at the now defunct News of the World heard.
The paper’s royal reporter Clive Goodman, in an e-mail to his editor, said he had learnt the Queen had sent a note to officers, telling them to “keep their sticky fingers out”.
Judge John Saunders, to laughter in the court, underlined to the jury that these were “unfounded allegations”.
The emails were read out to the long-running phone hacking trial, where eight people including former News of the World editors Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson are facing charges related to the interception of voicemails.
