The Queen has reportedly been asking dinner party guests to give her “three good reasons why Britain should be part of Europe”, in a move that has once again raised questions over her position on the EU referendum.
Her Majesty’s biographer, Robert Lacey, said she was “impeccably non-political in public”, but he argued that it was a very different story in private, where she could be “refreshingly outspoken among friends”.
He described how a comment at her recent birthday celebrations in favour of the “many benefits that can flow when people come together for a common purpose – as family, friends or neighbours” had been taken as a coded endorsement of the government’s remain policy.
But, writing for the Daily Beast, Lacey also revealed the question she had apparently been posing to friends.
A spokesman for Buckingham Palace said: “We would not comment on private conversations the Queen may or may not have had, but the Queen is above politics, has remained politically neutral for the 64 years of her reign and we are very clear that the EU referendum is a matter for the British people.”
Sources pointed out that the monarch was reported to have asked a question and not made any statement about the referendum.
However, despite her neutral position, the Queen was seen as having intervened during the Scottish referendum on independence in 2014 by telling a member of the public in a way that would inevitably be reported that she hoped Scots would “think very carefully” before the vote.
Last month, the Sun was forced to apologise for a “Queen backs Brexit” headline. The tabloid newspaper had reported that the Queen had complained about the EU to Nick Clegg, when he was deputy prime minister.
