Lawyers for the Queen ‘ lobbied to change law and hide her wealth’
LAWYERS for the Queen lobbied ministers to alter a draft law so that her private wealth could be kept secret, newly- uncovered records have suggested.
Legislation was changed so that any ‘potentially embarrassing’ investments she held could be concealed from the public, it was alleged.
The incident, which happened almost 50 years ago during the premiership of Edward Heath but was unearthed by The Guardian last night, is one of the rare examples of behind-the- scenes political involvement from the monarchy.
Her Majesty’s lawyers are said to have pressed ministers into altering measures in a planned Companies Bill. This would have allowed directors to demand that front companies holding their shares reveal the identities of the real owners of the shares.
Among those involved in altering the Bill, said to be in a bid to protect the Queen, was Geoffrey Howe, then trade and industry secretary and later chancellor and foreign secretary under Margaret Thatcher. Howe, who died in 2015, approved a fix developed by the Bank of England and civil servants, which was sold to the public as a means of protecting the identities of foreign heads of states and governments investing in Britain.
He later wrote that he ‘ discussed this solution with the legal advisers to the Queen’, who in turn said ‘ they could not ask us to do more’.
The documents unearthed at the National Archives suggest there was alarm over the possibility that Her Majesty’s shareholdings might be exposed in November 1973 when the Companies Bill was in preparation.
According to a memo written by a civil servant, the approach to Heath’s government came through lawyer Matthew Farrer of the law firm Farrer Co. The official noted: ‘He regards any disclosure of beneficial ownership of shares by the Crown, even if restricted to the directors of the company, as potentially embarrassing, because of the risk of leaks.’ This resulted in deep thinking at the Bank of England, followed by an alteration to the Bill which, it was said, would protect heads of state and foreign government interests from having to reveal their shareholdings.
The attempt to bring transparency to the City collapsed because Heath’s government ran into trouble and lost all its planned legislation when it called an election in February 1974. But it did go on to the statute book under Labour in 1976.
The documents suggest the Queen’s legal team were given advance sight of the Bill under the constitutional procedure known as Queen’s Consent, which requires the monarch to give approval when any new law affecting her powers or personal finances is brought forward.
A royal spokesman said: ‘Queen’s Consent is a parliamentary process, with the role of sovereign purely formal. Consent is always granted by the monarch where requested by government. Any assertion that the sovereign has blocked legislation is simply incorrect. Whether Queen’s Consent is required is decided by Parliament, independently from the Royal Household, in matters that would affect Crown interests.’
‘Could not ask us to do more’