Nicola Sturgeon has spoken of her “incredible respect” for Queen Elizabeth II – saying an audience with her was “more nerve-racking than doing First Minister’s Questions”.
However she said that following her death in 2022, she believed the “absurdities” surrounding the monarchy could “start to come to the fore much more without the Queen to keep it going”.
The former Scottish first minister stressed she is “not a monarchist”, describing herself as being a “republican by instinct”.
But speaking on BBC Breakfast, she said the late Queen was a “remarkable woman”.
The former SNP leader said: “I am a republican, but I have such incredible respect for the Queen, and incredible woman.
“The Queen was an amazing woman. There are few people in life I had a greater respect for.
“When I was a wee girl growing up in Ayrshire, the idea that one day I would sit in a room alone with the Queen would have been beyond my comprehension.
“To sit in a room with her, it was like a window on to 20th century history, she would talk about chatting to Winston Churchill and Nelson Mandela and all the big figures from her reign.
“Going for an audience with the Queen was more nerve-racking than doing First Minister’s Questions, she was so well informed about everything, from the local to the national, to the global.”
She said there was a “mystique” about Queen Elizabeth II, saying: “If you were in a room and the Queen walked in, even if you weren’t looking at her you could feel her presence.”
While she stressed her “respect” for the rest of the royal family, she said given this “mystique” is no longer present, “perhaps the absurdities of the monarchy will start to come to the fore much more”.
When Queen Elizabeth II died at the Balmoral estate in Aberdeenshire, Ms Sturgeon, who was first minister at the time, described it as a “profoundly sad moment”, adding that her life had been one of “extraordinary dedication and service”.
