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Queen Elizabeth II was a Remainer who did not support Brexit but thought that EU bureaucracy was “ridiculous”, according to a new book.
The late Queen reportedly told a senior minister three months before the Brexit referendum that “we shouldn’t leave the EU”, adding: “It’s better to stick with the devil you know.”
The account, from a snippet of Valentine Low’s book Power and the Palace in The Times, was supported by a palace insider who said the late Queen saw the EU as part of the postwar settlement, marking an era of cooperation after two world wars.
While the late Queen was a Remainer, she did find herself irritated by Brussels bureaucracy once remarking “this is ridiculous” while reading the papers.
Former prime minister David Cameron said: “She was so careful never to express a political view, but you always sensed that, like most of her subjects, she thought that European cooperation was necessary and important, but the institutions of the EU sometimes can be infuriating.”
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When Mr Cameron heard of the Queen’s views on Brexit, he chose not to use it in the Remain campaign. This same view was not held by the Leave campaign, after a story was placed in The Sun implying the Queen supported plans to leave the European Union.
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The Sun published a front page at the time which read “Queen Backs Brexit”, reporting on a lunch at Windsor in 2011 between deputy prime minister Nick Clegg and the late Queen, where she reportedly said she thought the EU was heading in the wrong direction.
She allegedly said: “I don’t understand Europe.” The story was denied by Mr Clegg, who accused former Conservative MP Michael Gove of leaking the story.
Buckingham Palace complained to IPSO, although it did not issue a strong denial for the story; Mr Low says that it was understood that any official denial would imply the Queen was a Remainer, and she could not vote as a state head above politics. Other members of the royal family, while able to vote, typically adhere to the same philosophy.
An ardent environmentalist, King Charles III’s politics have long attracted attention, particularly after reports in 2022 that he expressed his disdain for Conservative government plans to fly asylum seekers to Rwanda.
According to anonymous sources, the then-Prince was reported to have said he was “more than disappointed at the policy. He said he thinks the government’s whole approach is appalling. It was clear he was not impressed with the government’s direction of travel”.
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Clarence House said in response to the leaked comments: “We would not comment on supposed anonymous private conversations with the Prince of Wales, except to restate that he remains politically neutral.”
Buckingham Palace has been approached for comment.