QUEEN BACKS HOUNDED HERO
Pride of place at royal lunch for Lord Bramall after abuse case hell
The Queen showed ‘extraordinary’ support for Lord Bramall while he was being hounded over false child abuse claims, the Daily Mail can reveal. The monarch made a point of ‘warmly’ welcoming the former Army chief to a lunch at Windsor Castle at the height of the doomed investigation.
He attended the annual Order of the Garter event just weeks after he and his dying wife were subjected to a dawn raid by 20 police officers and questioned over the spurious allegations.
Lord Bramall – formally cleared over the claims last week – will also be welcomed at this year’s gala, one of the most prestigious events in the royal calendar.
It is understood the Queen may even offer the 92-year-old a place at her side as a public sign of support for the D-Day veteran she has known for more than four decades.
A source with close ties to the event revealed last night: ‘Interestingly, she was planning to do so whether or not the war hero had been cleared by that time.
‘The Queen can’t overtly support him but there are more subtle ways that she can express her feelings on the issue. Seating him next to her is a significant way of doing that.’
The revelation will heap further pressure on Metropolitan Police boss Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe to offer a formal public apology to Lord
Bramall after Scotland Yard’s bungled ten-month probe into the baseless claims made by a suspected serial fantasist known only as Nick.
The investigation began in March but the peer, Britain’s most decorated living soldier, was only told by letter last week that it was being dropped because of ‘insufficient evidence’.
The claims were so weak that a file wasn’t even sent to the Crown Prosecution Service. Lord Bramall’s wife of 66 years passed away last July never knowing that her husband had been cleared. Met Commissioner Sir Bernard has since refused to bow to pressure and apologise to the Field Marshall. Instead, his force issued an 891-word statement that failed to say sorry.
The Order of the Garter, of which Lord Bramall was made a member in 1990, is the most senior and the oldest British order of chivalry.
Its ‘companions’ – who are awarded the title of knight or lady – are personally chosen by the sovereign for their outstanding contribution to national life or service to the monarchy.
Each June recipients gather at Windsor for lunch followed by a procession through the castle precinct and a service at St George’s Chapel.
According to sources present last year, Lord Bramall proudly attended ‘with his head held high’.
He was ‘warmly welcomed’ by the Queen and other members of the Royal Family including Prince Philip, Prince Charles and Prince William as well as Prince Andrew, Prince Edward and Princess Anne.
This was taken by many to be a sign of their support – even though he was publicly under investigation as part of Operation Midland, Scotland Yard’s historic VIP sex abuse unit.
Although he was too frail to take part in the procession itself, he was driven in one of the Queen’s cars to her chapel and stayed for the service.
This year, say sources, the monarch plans to go one step further and may seat him next to her at the dining table.
A close friend of Lord Bramall said last night: ‘In terms of the Royal Family, it was never their view that there was any substance to the allegations.
‘He was never isolated by the Royal Family and that means a lot to him.’ One of Lord Bramall’s fellow Knights of the Garter said the peer, who has attended every lunch since 1990, would attend this year, health permitting.
The unnamed source said the Queen thinks ‘ very carefully indeed’ about the seating plan at the event, adding: ‘ What I can tell you is that if Lord Bramall is sitting next to her it won’t be an accident.
‘When he attended last year people absolutely did not shun him, in fact quite the opposite. Everyone voiced their support.’ Another Knight of the Garter, Sir William Gladstone, said it was ‘obvious’ the Queen felt a sense of injustice over his friend’s plight.
Sir William, a former Eton schoolmate of Lord Bramall, described the treatment of the peer as a ‘disgrace’ and said the D-Day hero would proudly take his seat at the annual Windsor lunch. Buckingham Palace said it would not comment on a ‘private lunch’.
A royal source added that a seating plan would not be considered until nearer the June event, a date for which has not yet been fixed.
Lord Bramall’s ordeal started after he was named by an accuser known only as ‘Nick’ – who also alleged other public figures had taken part in child abuse and murder, including the late prime minister Ted Heath and former Home Secretary Lord Brittan. The Army chief ’ s country home was raided at dawn in March, leaving his wife, who was suffering from Alzheimer’s, deeply distressed. He described the allegations against him as ‘grotesque’ but only found out last week the probe was over.
A friend told the Mail the Field Marshal ‘ still has a shadow over him’, adding: ‘I am sure what has happened over the last week has been an immediate weight off his mind, but, as he has written, he is still very upset that he hasn’t been absolved completely.’
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