A key Brexit pledge was omitted from a speech delivered by the late Queen Elizabeth due to fears it fell under the umbrella of being “too overtly political,” a new royal book has claimed.
The credo “take back control” became a central tenet of the campaign to leave the EU in 2016 and was therefore deemed inappropriate for the former monarch’s remarks at the opening of Parliament.
The findings have been published new book, Power and the Palace, by former Times royal correspondent Valentine Low.
According to a Whitehall source, the monarch’s duty to hold an apolitical role in proceedings sometimes led to “tweaks” being made in the Queen’s Speech.
A new royal book has suggested a key Brexit pledge was omitted from a Queen's Speech to avoid references to slogans that were 'too overtly political'
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“The tension comes in the drafting of the speech. If there are phrases in there that look too overtly political,” the insider told Low.
When analysing a speech, there could be: “An eyebrow raised at the other end of St James’s Park, which means, ‘No, I don’t think we can use this phrase or that phrase, because it’s come directly from political campaigning.’”
One such occasion concerned a reference to Brexit about “taking back control”, which was omitted by the Palace.
The source revealed that this back and forth between the Palace and Government flared up on a few occasions during the premiership of Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
Another tweak to the Queen's Speech concerned a phrase relating to the government of the time’s Rwanda Bill
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This included a phrase relating to the Government of the time’s Rwanda Bill.
However, this was not always the case as former Cabinet Minister Sir Malcom Rifkind revealed the Queen had been “particularly pleased” with the Queen’s Speech she delivered in 2021.
In particular, the late sovereign appreciated the Government’s commitment to the “global effort to get 40 million girls across the world into school”.
While on a visit to Sandringham, Sir Malcolm also divulged that the Queen had expressed positive feelings about her relationship with the then Prime Minister.
The book also shed light on the late Queen's thoughts on former Prime Minister Boris Johnson
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“I’m finding him a rather interesting person,” she was said to have opined on Mr Johnson.
Low’s new book also proposed bombshell claims about the late Queen’s stance on Brexit itself.
An unnamed senior minister who spoke with Queen Elizabeth in Spring 2016, just three months before the fateful referendum, told the author she admitted her desire to remain in the EU.
“We shouldn’t leave the EU,” the minister recalled Queen Elizabeth declaring.
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The Queen is also claimed to have supported remaining in the EU in the new book
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While discussing the approaching referendum, she was then said to argue: “It’s better to stick with the devil you know.”
The book suggests that the Queen ultimately saw the EU as an integral part of post-war Europe and a sign of co-operation after the destructive conflicts of the early 20th century.
“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,” former Prime Minister David Cameron said of her position.
Word of the Queen’s Remainer tendencies had apparently reached Mr Cameron, who was in No10 at the time. However, it was ultimately decided that the monarch's views should be kept private and out of any campaigning.