Queen talks of 'lax' bankers and 'toothless' regulators behind financial crisis "Oh!" said the Queen, looking slightly taken aback. Mr Kapadia said the City had got "complacent" because it thought risk was being managed better than it was, and the financial system had become too interconnected. The Queen agreed: "People got a bit lax ... perhaps it was difficult to foresee." She asked if the financial system was less interconnected now and concurred with a suggestion that part of the problem had been the lack of powers given to the Financial Services Authority. "They didn't have the teeth," she said. The Duke, meanwhile, was typically direct. "There's not another one coming, is there?" he asked. Then, as he left Mr Kapadia and his group, he said: "Don't do it again!" Mr Kapadia said afterwards: "It was an honour to be asked, and a real pleasure to be able to offer some explanation. I think she recognised that these things are very difficult and it's not a straightforward exercise. Both the Queen and the Duke were invited to sign an unissued £1 million note instead of signing a visitors" book. As the Duke waited to sign his note, he joked: "Is this just lying about? You won't miss it, will you? In the vault, one of nine in which the Bank stores a total of around £200 billion worth of gold, the couple saw 63,000 gold bars stacked in eight rows. Each four-tonne stack is four shelves high, with each shelf holding 80 bars. A gold bar weighs 13kg, worth £423,783 at today's price. The gold was piled so high that as the Queen, who is 5ft 4 ins tall, walked between them she almost disappeared from view. The Queen and Duke were also shown two gold bars recovered from ships sunk in the Second World War - the SS Fort Stikine, sunk off Bombay in 1944, and HMS Edinburgh, sunk in the Barents Sea in 1942. During the tour the Queen, who famously does not carry money, was shown an array of notes with her head on - £50, £20, £10 and £5. The Queen, who was on her ninth visit to the Bank, first went there as an 11-year-old girl with Queen Mary. Then, in keeping with tradition, she signed a thousand pound note. Inflation has dictated that VIP visitors now sign a £1m note. As the Queen signed, next to the note bearing her signature from 1937, she said: "It hasn't improved, really." Then, as she passed a woman with tinsel draped round her computer screen, she said: "We like your Christmas decorations." Sir Mervyn King, the outgoing Governor of the Bank, thanked the Queen for her visit and described the Bank's staff as "unsung heroes" who had kept the economy going "in the most difficult circumstances." He asked the Queen for two early Christmas presents: one was her signature on the banknote - the other was Royal Assent for the Financial Services Bill. "When is the Bill due?" the Queen asked. "It has gone through Parliament and should be with you before Christmas," he said. As the Queen left the Bank, she said of her visit: "Very interesting, isn't it?"