Prince William urged Queen Elizabeth II to intervene in the Scottish independence referendum, a new book has claimed.
The late Queen said she hoped the people of Scotland would “think very carefully about the future” just days before the referendum.
The book claims that Queen Elizabeth II was urged to make an intervention when some polls showed that the Yes vote was ahead.
Sources at the time said that the late Queen’s comments were spontaneous.
The late Queen said she hoped the people of Scotland would “think very carefully about the future” just days before the referendum.
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However, David Cameron, who was Prime Minister at the time, has previously confirmed that he lobbied the monarch to intervene.
Valentine Low in his new book, Power and the Palace, wrote: “The pressure (on the Queen to intervene) did not just come from Cameron, however.
“Prince William also wanted the Queen to say something, and urged the Queen’s private secretary, Sir Christopher Geidt, to get her to intervene.
“Geidt and the cabinet secretary, Sir Jeremy Heywood, had... already been talking about the constitutional propriety of an intervention by the monarch, and between them they came up with the formula that the Queen would use when she stopped to talk to members of the public outside Crathie Kirk that Sunday.”
The new book also claims that Queen Elizabeth II had no enthusiasm for making a change to a Royal Family rule that would allow princesses to take the throne.
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The No campaign received 55 per cent of the vote in the referendum, meaning Scotland remained part of the United Kingdom.
The new book also claims that Queen Elizabeth II had no enthusiasm for making a change to a Royal Family rule that would allow princesses to take the throne.
In 2013, the law was changed to ensure the firstborn child of a monarch would be next in line to the throne regardless of their gender.
Previously, the firstborn son of a monarch would jump ahead of any elder sisters they may have in the Royal Family’s line of succession.
David Cameron, who was Prime Minister at the time, pushed for the law to be changed in time for the birth of Prince William and Kate’s first child, according to Power and the Palace, by Valentine Low.
Lord Cameron is said to have discussed it with the Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard during a Commonwealth summit in Perth in October 2011.
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Lord Cameron is said to have discussed it with the Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard during a Commonwealth summit in Perth in October 2011.
Mr Low writes: “According to a government source, he said to Gillard: ‘William and Kate are getting married, there’s going to be kids, shall we sort this out?’
“Crucially, the palace was not against it. But they said that the government had to ensure the backing of the other 15 realms.”
The source added: “I always thought that the signals from Buckingham Palace were that if it was the wish of the duly elected prime minister of the day, and the realms can be sorted out, we will not stand in its way.
“I didn’t get the sense there was any great enthusiasm from the palace and the Queen herself.”