Orf with his head
Salmond breaks protocol to claim Queen confided in him over referendum
IT is a breach of royal protocol that at one time could have seen him sent to the Tower.
But Alex Salmond yesterday risked the wrath of Buckingham Palace after he used his weekly radio talk show to relate a private conversation he allegedly had with the Queen.
Shortly after the 2014 independence referendum, David Cameron was caught on camera saying she had ‘purred’ down the phone when he informed her of the outcome of the historic vote.
But yesterday the former First Minister challenged that version of events, claiming the Queen had told him that she did not ‘purr’ about the result.
She was at Balmoral for the referendum and made a dramatic lastminute i ntervention when she urged voters to ‘think very carefully about the future’.
It is widely thought the Queen was deeply worried by the prospect of the break-up of the UK.
A political biography last year claimed the Cabinet Secretary, Sir Jeremy Heywood, and the Queen’s private secretary, Sir Christopher Geidt, even held talks to work out how she might express her concerns in a suitably coded way.
The result was her remark after a Sunday service in Crathie Kirk, near Balmoral.
On his LBC show, Mr Salmond was yesterday asked about Prince William’s comments this week, in which he described Britain as an ‘outward-looking nation’ – dragging him into the EU referendum row. The former SNP leader said: ‘The truth is that constitutional monarchies should stay out of referendums.
‘I don’t think for a minute that Her Majesty the Queen actually intervened in the Scottish referendum.’
Speaking to businessmen during a visit to New York shortly after the referendum, Mr Cameron made clear that he had been dreading the idea of having to tell the Queen that Scotland had voted Yes to separation. Caught on microphone, he recalled how he was able to tell her that the situation was ‘all right’ after the referendum resulted in defeat for Mr Salmond.
‘The definition of relief is being the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and ringing the Queen and saying, “It’s all right, it’s OK.” That was something. She purred down the line,’ he said.
But Mr Salmond said yesterday: ‘Well, I know that’s not true. I’ll tell you why I know it’s not true. It was a week after the referendum, I was asked to Balmoral the following day where Her Majesty the Queen assured me it wasn’t the case.
‘Who do I believe? Her Majesty the Queen, Queen of Scots, or a Tory Prime Minister?
‘OK, that’s taken me two seconds, I believe Her Majesty the Queen. I’m backing the Queen.’
It is frowned upon for senior politicians to relate conversations with the Queen. Mr Cameron said he was ‘ extremely sorry and very embarrassed’ after his gaffe.
Tony Blair went into detail about their conversations after Princess Diana’s funeral in his memoirs, sparking huge controversy.
Last night, a Palace spokesman said it ‘never’ comments on private conversations.
Tory MSP Alex Johnstone said: ‘This is another example of Alex Salmond trying to rewrite history.
‘He’s not meant to break the confidence of the Queen but he’d happily do so if he thought it would further the SNP’s agenda.’