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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
National
Sami Quadri

Queen Elizabeth II privately opposed Brexit, new book claims

Queen Elizabeth II believed Britain should remain in the European Union and would have voted against Brexit if she had been allowed to, according to a new book.

The late monarch, who was constitutionally bound to stay politically neutral, is reported to have told a minister in 2016: “We shouldn’t leave the EU.” She is also said to have added: “It’s better to stick with the devil you know.”

The claims are made in Power and the Palace, a forthcoming book by royal biographer Valentine Low, which explores the monarchy’s relationship with government. The account is based on nearly 100 interviews with senior politicians, civil servants and palace aides.

It appears to contradict previous reports of Elizabeth II’s views. During the referendum campaign, The Sun ran a front-page story under the headline “Queen Backs Brexit”, claiming that in 2011 she told then–deputy prime minister Nick Clegg that she thought “the EU was heading in the wrong direction”.

At the time, the Palace insisted the Queen was “politically neutral” and lodged a complaint with press regulator IPSO, which later ruled the headline “significantly misleading”. Mr Clegg also denied the report, accusing Michael Gove of leaking it.

Low writes that, although the Queen often read newspaper stories about Brussels bureaucracy and dismissed them as “ridiculous”, she supported European cooperation. “On a fundamental level she saw the EU as part of the post-war settlement, marking an era of co-operation after two world wars,” he says, quoting a palace insider.

David Cameron, prime minister during the referendum, told Low: “She 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, but the institutions of the EU sometimes can be infuriating.”

The author claims news of her views reached Mr Cameron, who decided against using them in the Remain campaign. “He chose not to, even though the Leave camp had no such scruples,” Low writes. “But it is now clear: if the Queen had had a vote, she would have voted Remain.”

Buckingham Palace has not commented.

Low also quotes George Osborne, who said: “I was constantly astonished by how candid she was and that none of this ever came out. She’d be very forthright in telling you what she thought of individuals, including members of her own family, and what she thought about things going on in the country.”

The book recounts other moments where the Queen hinted at her views. During the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, she made a rare intervention, urging people to “think very carefully about the future” just days before the vote. Lord Cameron later admitted he had asked whether she could “raise an eyebrow” about independence, and apologised to her after he was overheard saying she had “purred” down the phone when told the result.

Other anecdotes include Boris Johnson’s attempted audience with the Queen while suffering from Covid-19. Dominic Cummings, his chief adviser, is reported to have stopped him, allegedly saying: “You will f---ing kill the Queen. Are you f---ing mad?”

Osborne also recalled an incident during the US state visit in 2011 when the Queen asked him to intervene with President Barack Obama at a banquet. “Will you tell President Obama it’s time to go to bed?” she is said to have asked. Osborne hesitated, before the Queen’s private secretary, Christopher Geidt, stepped in.

The book claims palace officials even adjusted the Queen’s Speech under Boris Johnson’s premiership, removing the phrase “taking back control” because of its use in Brexit campaigning.

Low writes that the Queen did not agree with her son Charles’s more outspoken approach to politics. A palace source is quoted as saying her view was: “Just don’t do it. As soon as you engage in politics, you have an opinion and you pick a side – you cause a part of the population who disagree to take a partial view of you.”

The Princess Royal and Prince Andrew reportedly thought Charles’s campaigning, particularly on climate change, “bordered on the naive”.

The book also reveals last-minute concerns in government over the monarchy’s funding formula, agreed in 2010. The Treasury considered asking for a smaller percentage of Crown Estate profits, but the Keeper of the Privy Purse is said to have responded: “Look, Her Majesty has agreed to it,” leaving Osborne to finalise the deal. The settlement, set at 15 per cent, remains in place.

Power and the Palace will be published on September 11 and is being serialised by The Times.

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