Queen Elizabeth II Was a Remainer, Book Claims

Strategic Insights -

Despite her reputation for neutrality, Queen Elizabeth II privately expressed concerns about the UK leaving the European Union, a new book has revealed. According to author Valentine Low, in an extract serialised in The Times, the late monarch told a senior minister three months before the 2016 Brexit referendum that 'we shouldn't leave the EU.' This private sentiment, however, was not reflected in her public stance, and she remained steadfast in maintaining a neutral position on the issue. The claims emerge from Low's upcoming book, Power and the Palace: The Inside Story of the Monarchy and 10 Downing Street.

Key Takeaways:

  • Queen Elizabeth II privately expressed concerns about the UK leaving the European Union, telling a senior minister 'we shouldn't leave the EU' three months before the 2016 Brexit referendum.
  • The Queen's private sentiment was in contrast to her public stance, which remained neutral on the issue of Brexit.
  • Former prime minister David Cameron added that the Queen 'was so careful never to express a political view,' but 'you always sensed that, like most of her subjects, she thought that European co-operation was necessary and important.'
  • A well-placed royal source insisted that 'no one, not even her closest advisers, ever knew what the Queen thought on a huge range of political issues over the years, least of all Brexit.'
  • The Queen was again dragged into controversy surrounding Brexit in 2019 when then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson advised the monarch to prorogue parliament as part of an attempt to force through the government's plans for leaving the EU.
  • The Queen's rare 'intervention' during the Scottish referendum campaign in 2014 was an equivocal remark that she hoped people would 'think very carefully about the future,' just days before the vote.

Statistics:

  • Three months before the 2016 Brexit referendum, Queen Elizabeth II personally expressed concerns about the UK leaving the European Union (The Times).
  • 63 years: the Queen's duration of maintaining a neutral stance on political issues (Buckingham Palace).
  • 2011: the year the Queen allegedly made disparaging remarks about the EU during a lunch at Windsor Castle (The Sun).
  • 2014: the year the Queen made a rare 'intervention' during the Scottish referendum campaign, hoping people would 'think very carefully about the future' (Power and the Palace: The Inside Story of the Monarchy and 10 Downing Street).
  • 2016: the year the Queen was at the center of a controversy surrounding Brexit, with allegations that she backed the Leave campaign (The Sun).

Sources:

  • Power and the Palace: The Inside Story of the Monarchy and 10 Downing Street, Valentine Low (book).
  • The Times, 'Queen told senior minister: "We shouldn't leave the EU" before Brexit referendum' (article).
  • The Sun, 'Queen Backs Brexit' (article).
  • Buckingham Palace, 'The Queen remains politically neutral, as she has for 63 years' (statement).