Revealed: Queen backs Brexit as alleged EU bust-up with ex-Deputy PM emerges
EXCLUSIVE: Her Majesty reportedly let rip at Nick Clegg during lunch at Windsor Castle
IPSO rules agains Sun's Queen headline
Buckingham Palace complained to the Independent Press Standards Organisation
(IPSO) that The Sun breached Clause 1 (Accuracy) of the Editors’ Code of
Practice, in an article headlined “Queen Backs Brexit” published on 9 March
2016.
IPSO upheld the complaint, and has ordered The Sun to publish its decision as
a remedy.
The article was published on the newspaper’s front page. The headline appeared
beneath the strapline “Exclusive: bombshell claim over Europe vote” and
above the sub-headline “EU going in wrong direction, she says”. Accompanying
the headline was an official photograph of the Queen in ceremonial dress.
The article reported that two unnamed sources had claimed that the Queen made
critical comments about the EU at two private functions: a lunch for Privy
Counsellors at Windsor Castle in 2011, and a reception for Members of
Parliament at Buckingham Palace said to have taken place “a few years ago”.
The complainant said that the headline meant that the Queen was a supporter of
the Leave campaign in the forthcoming referendum, and wanted to see Britain
leave the EU. The complainant said this was misleading, distorted, and
unsupported by the text.
The newspaper said that readers would have known that the headline referred to
no more than a claim that the Queen backs Brexit. The text of the article
set out the basis for that claim: the accounts of apparently Eurosceptic
views said to have been expressed by the Queen on two previous occasions.
This was a legitimate public interest story, and its readers were entitled
to know the Queen’s views.
In IPSO’s view, while the complaint about the article itself did not raise a
breach of the Code, the headline went much further than a claim about what
the Queen might think. It was a factual assertion that the Queen had
expressed a position in the referendum debate, and there was nothing in the
headline, or the manner in which it was presented on the newspaper’s front
page, to suggest that this was conjecture, hyperbole, or was not to be read
literally.
IPSO acknowledged the importance of headlines in tabloid newspapers. However,
it did not follow from the comments the article reported that the Queen
wanted the UK to leave the EU as a result of the referendum: that suggestion
was conjecture and the Committee noted that none of those quoted in the
story were reported as making such a claim.
The headline was not supported by the text. It was significantly misleading –
given that it suggested a fundamental breach of the Queen’s constitutional
obligations – and represented a failure to take care not to publish
inaccurate, misleading or distorted information in breach of Clause 1 (i).
The complaint under Clause 1 was upheld.
THE Queen has been hailed as a backer of Brexit tonight after details emerged
of an extraordinary alleged bust-up between her and Nick Clegg over Europe.
Her Majesty let rip at the then Deputy PM during a lunch at Windsor Castle,
The Sun has been told.
The 89-year-old monarch firmly told passionate pro-European Mr Clegg that she
believed the EU was heading in the wrong direction.
Her stinging reprimand went on for “quite a while”, leaving other guests
around the table stunned.
The account of the bombshell lunch during the last government - which a
handful of other government ministers also attended - has been relayed to
The Sun by a highly reliable source.
The senior source said: “People who heard their conversation were left in no
doubt at all about the Queen’s views on European integration.
“It was really something, and it went on for quite a while.
“The EU is clearly something Her Majesty feels passionately about.”
The monarch is also said to have revealed her Eurosceptic feelings during a
separate conversation with MPs at a Buckingham Palace reception.
One of a group of Parliamentarians in a circle with her at the time asked Her
Majesty for her thoughts on Brussels.
The Queen is said to have snapped back angrily: “I don’t understand Europe”.
A parliamentary source, who relayed the remark to The Sun, said: “It was said
with quite some venom and emotion. I shall never forget it”.
The claims will explode a furious controversy.
Brexit-backing Tory MPs are already leaping on The Sun’s revelations as a
strong sign the Queen is secretly on the side of Leave ahead of the landmark
EU referendum on June 23.
But British monarchs are deemed to be above politics and have always tried
hard to stay out of divisive issues.
The upcoming EU referendum is one of the most divisive in decades, splitting
the country down the middle on whether to remain or leave.
Buckingham Palace and Mr Clegg tried to pour cold water on the bust-up claim,
but neither expressly denied a heated debate between the Queen and the
former Lib Dem leader had taken place.
A Buckingham Palace spokesman said: “The Queen remains politically neutral, as
she has for 63 years. We would never comment on spurious, anonymously
sourced claims.
“The referendum will be a matter for the British people.”
Former Lib Dem boss Mr Clegg told The Sun: “I have absolutely no recollection
of it.
“I don’t have a photographic memory. But I think I would have remembered
something as stark or significant as you have made it out to be.
“No doubt you’ll speak to someone else and they’ll say, ‘I was there I heard
it’. Fine.
“But I really can’t remember it at all.
“Anyway, without sounding pompous, I find it rather distasteful to reveal
conversations with the Queen.”
Despite the longstanding tradition for Royals to stay out of politics, The
Queen was seen to have controversially intervened in the referendum on
Scottish independence in September 2014.
In remarks widely judged to have been a call to keep Great Britain together,
Her Majesty told well-wishers after a Sunday church service that voters
should “think very carefully” before making their decision.
It is believed the remark had been carefully cooked up by the Queen’s top
official Sir Christopher Geidt and Cabinet Secretary Sir Jeremy Heywood —
who is the PM’s most senior mandarin — after the government appealed for her
help when polls showed a surge in support for the 'Yes' campaign.
The only other time the Queen was embroiled in a major political controversy
was in 1986, when The Sunday Times reported that then PM Margaret Thatcher’s
social policies and attitude to the Commonwealth caused Her Majesty dismay.
Buckingham Palace issued a string of denials but the Sunday Times stood by its
story.
It emerged the source was the Queen’s Press Secretary Michael Shea, who was
eventually forced to leave his job.
Fears are also growing the Queen will come under heavy pressure from No10 to
make a pro-EU intervention during her official 90th birthday celebrations in
mid-June, just days before the nationwide vote.
Every word of the monarch’s public utterances at the time will be pored over
by observers for any sign of her personal feelings.
Within Royal circles, the Duke of Edinburgh’s anti-EU views are also widely
known.
The 94-year-old has been overheard making his significant dislike of Brussels
very clear in private remarks.
But the views of younger members of the Royal Family are less well known.
Prince William was dragged into a bitter row last month when remarks in a
speech he made at the Foreign Office were interpreted as being a tacit
signal that he wants the UK to stay in the EU.
Kensington Palace insisted the Duke of Cambridge had not meant give any
backing to either side.
Anti-EU campaigner and Tory MP Jacob Rees Mogg said: “I’d be delighted if this
was true and Her Majesty is a Brexiter.
“The reason we all sing God Save The Queen so heartily is because we always
believe she is there to protect us from European encroachment.”
Another leading Tory Eurosceptic, MP Steve Baker, said: “This is a happy day
for those of us who have sworn allegiance to Her Majesty the Queen, her
heirs and successors.
“I would be delighted to welcome Her Majesty to our cause.
“I’ve insisted the government must not to drag the monarchy into this debate,
but I may have to make an exception to my high principles on this occasion.”
Don’t voters have a right to know what the Queen thinks on the EU?
By TOM NEWTON DUNN, Political Editor
OUR revelations will trigger an almighty row, because the Queen loathes
little more than being dragged into an ugly political knife fight.
Constitutionally, it is vital for the monarch to remain about the fray, no
matter how important the issue is – and they don’t come much bigger than
Brexit.
Buckingham Palace may even go as far as formally denying her anti-EU
remarks that we are reporting were ever made.
Yet Her Majesty’s most senior officials pointedly did not do so tonight.
Neither did Nick Clegg.
We would also not be taking the big step in reporting them if they had not
come from two different and impeccably placed sources.
The Queen is very arguably the most respected stateswoman in the world.
If she has a view on something as big as Brexit, don’t voters have a right
to know what it is?
Hate it as she might, Her Majesty now has form for political interference.
It is now beyond doubt that she made a very careful intervention in the
Scottish independence referendum to back a vote for the union.
Can it be right that the Queen’s politics should only be known when she and
the Prime Minister deem it so between them?
It is a massive debate. But remember who started it.