{"id":383253,"date":"2025-08-29T19:45:25","date_gmt":"2025-08-29T19:45:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/383253\/"},"modified":"2025-08-29T19:45:25","modified_gmt":"2025-08-29T19:45:25","slug":"queen-elizabeth-was-a-remainer-monarch-wanted-britain-to-remain-in-the-eu-as-its-better-to-stick-with-the-devil-you-know-royal-book-claims","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/383253\/","title":{"rendered":"Queen Elizabeth was a REMAINER: Monarch ‘wanted Britain to remain in the EU as “it’s better to stick with the devil you know”‘, royal book claims"},"content":{"rendered":"

Queen Elizabeth II<\/a> was a Remainer opposed to Britain\u2019s decision to leave the European Union<\/a>, a new book has sensationally claimed.<\/p>\n

In one of the few major insights into the late monarch\u2019s political leanings, it is alleged the Queen told a senior minister three months before the 2016 Brexit<\/a> referendum: \u2018We shouldn\u2019t leave the EU.\u2019<\/p>\n

She is later said to have added: \u2018It\u2019s better to stick with the devil you know.\u2019<\/p>\n

The bombshell revelation emerged in an upcoming book by veteran former royal correspondent Valentine Low, entitled \u2018Power and the Palace: The Inside Story of the Monarchy and 10 Downing Street<\/a>.\u2019<\/p>\n

In an extract serialised in The Times this evening, one Buckingham Palace<\/a> insider said that, while the Queen could be frustrated by Brussels bureaucracy, she saw the EU as part of the postwar settlement, \u2018marking an era of cooperation after two world wars.\u2019<\/p>\n

Former Prime Minister David Cameron<\/a> added: \u2018She 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.\u2019<\/p>\n

The claims fly in the face of a controversial headline in The Sun newspaper in the run-up to the 2016 Brexit referendum which claimed \u2018Queen Backs Brexit.\u2019<\/p>\n

\"Queen <\/p>\n

Queen Elizabeth II supported Britain staying a part of the European Union during the controversial 2016 referendum vote, a book has claimed<\/p>\n

\"Iit <\/p>\n

Iit is alleged the Queen told a senior minister three months before the 2016 Brexit referendum: \u2018We shouldn\u2019t leave the EU.\u2019<\/p>\n

\"Pictured: <\/p>\n

Pictured: David Cameron at Buckingham Palace with Queen Elizabeth II in 2010<\/p>\n

Buckingham Palace complained about the story, insisting the monarch was \u2018politically neutral\u2019 and The Sun was forced to publish a ruling from the press watchdog stating the headline was \u2018significantly misleading.\u2019<\/p>\n

Buckingham Palace declined to comment on the new claims, in line with its policy that it does not get drawn into public statements on biographies or books on the Royal Family.<\/p>\n

Former chancellor George Osborne said that, despite so little being known publicly about the late Queen\u2019s political ideology, she could be surprisingly up-front in private.<\/p>\n

\u2018I was constantly astonished by how candid she was and that none of this ever came out,\u2019 he told Mr Low. \u2018<\/p>\n

She\u2019d be very forthright in telling you what she thought of individuals, including members of her own family, and what she thought about things going on in the country.\u2019<\/p>\n

However a well-placed royal source insisted to the Mail that \u2018no-one, not even her closest advisors, ever knew what the Queen thought on a huge range of political issues over the years, least of all Brexit\u2019.<\/p>\n

They added: \u2018Sometimes people impose their own political ideology when interpreting remarks Her Majesty may or may not have said. Often with claims such as these it\u2019s more holding a mirror up to the opinion of the person who is reporting them.\u2019<\/p>\n

Following its \u2018Queen Backs Brexit\u2019 headline in 2016, the Sun stood by its reporting and said the headline was \u2018backed up by the story.\u2019<\/p>\n

\"ormer <\/p>\n

ormer chancellor George Osborne said that, despite so little being known publicly about the late Queen\u2019s political ideology, she could be surprisingly up-front in private<\/p>\n

\"Buckingham <\/p>\n

Buckingham Palace declined to comment on the new claims, in line with its policy that it does not get drawn into public statements on biographies or books on the Royal Family<\/p>\n

The story was based on alleged critical comments the Queen made about Brussels during a lunch at Windsor Castle in 2011.<\/p>\n

It claimed the Queen had made disparaging comments about the EU during an exchange with Nick Clegg, then the deputy prime minister.<\/p>\n

It alleged she had made further critical comments about the EU at a reception for MPs at Buckingham Palace \u2013 citing two unnamed sources.<\/p>\n

Former justice secretary Michael Gove was later named as the source of the leak. Mr Clegg said the report was nonsense while, at the time, Buckingham Palace said: \u2018The Queen remains politically neutral, as she has for 63 years.<\/p>\n

‘We will not comment on spurious, anonymously sourced claims. The referendum is a matter for the British people to decide.\u2019<\/p>\n

Ipso\u2019s ruling said the content of The Sun\u2019s article did not breach its code, the headline did as it was \u2018a 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.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"A <\/p>\n

A royal source insisted to the Mail that \u2018no-one, not even her closest advisors, ever knew what the Queen thought on a huge range of political issues over the years, least of all Brexit\u2019<\/p>\n

The Queen was again dragged into controversy surrounding Brexit in 2019 when then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson advised the monarch to prorogue parliament as part of an attempt to force through the government\u2019s plans for leaving the EU.<\/p>\n

The Supreme Court later ruled that the suspension was unlawful and the prorogation was quashed.<\/p>\n

Buckingham Palace officials are said to have been concerned over whether the Queen was aware of what she was getting into, aware it could be subject to legal challenges, according to the book Out, by journalist Tim Shipman, released last year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Queen Elizabeth II was a Remainer opposed to Britain\u2019s decision to leave the European Union, a new book…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":383254,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5018,3,4],"tags":[748,92,393,4884,9142,12,1144,712,16,15,1764],"class_list":{"0":"post-383253","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-britain","8":"category-uk","9":"category-united-kingdom","10":"tag-britain","11":"tag-dailymail","12":"tag-england","13":"tag-great-britain","14":"tag-new-york-times","15":"tag-news","16":"tag-northern-ireland","17":"tag-scotland","18":"tag-uk","19":"tag-united-kingdom","20":"tag-wales"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115113776114348859","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383253","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=383253"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383253\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/383254"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=383253"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=383253"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=383253"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}