United Kingdom
Related: About this forumA question for UK DUer's (i.e. people who actually have lived there and know whereof they speak) ...
What has the Queen had to say about the Brexit referendum ? Anything ?
Is it important that anyone ask her ? Is so, when ?
Is her opinion likely to carry weight -- with pols, or the citizenry ?
Is there some ironic chance that aristocracy could save democracy from mobocracy ?
pkdu
(3,977 posts)What has the Queen had to say about the Brexit referendum ? Anything ? Not publicly - she isnt supposed to comment on "politics"..privately she is likely to be fuming . She will also likely have had strong words for Cameron in their weekly private meeting
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2016/06/28/queen-stays-mum-brexit-chaos/86459234/
Is it important that anyone ask her ? Is so, when ? Nope - see above
Is her opinion likely to carry weight -- with pols, or the citizenry ? Not for most , but if any , it would be the older , angrier segment
Is there some ironic chance that aristocracy could save democracy from mobocracy ? Zero
eppur_se_muova
(36,256 posts)LeftishBrit
(41,205 posts)What has the Queen had to say about the Brexit referendum ? Anything ?
Nothing, as yet, at least in public; probably she is privately far from Amused at the whole mess.
Is it important that anyone ask her ? Is so, when ?
It would not be the norm. The Queen is supposed to keep herself aloof from politics, and for that reason is not actually allowed to vote. I suppose if there was an enormous constitutional crisis (much worse than we have so far), then she might be asked to step in; but even then, she would act on others' advice and not off her own bat.
Is her opinion likely to carry weight -- with pols, or the citizenry ?
She is not really supposed to express political opinions. If we were practically on the point of civil war, then maybe her opinions would carry some weight; but I'm not sure even then.
Is there some ironic chance that aristocracy could save democracy from mobocracy ?
Not royalty in this case, I think. The House of Lords has saved us from right-wing idiocy before now - but they don't seem involved in this, so far at least.
Denzil_DC
(7,227 posts)Officially, nothing. But if you have a gigantic pinch of salt handy, here's a story from the (right-wing, pro-Leave) Telegraph:
The Queen has been canvassing opinion on the EU debate by asking dinner companions: "Give me three good reasons why Britain should be part of Europe."
Her Majesty's biographer, Robert Lacey, reported the Queen's comments and suggested they may mean the Queen favours withdrawal from the European Union.
Buckingham Palace would neither confirm nor deny that the Queen had been debating the merits of Brexit in private, but royal sources pointed out that the words attributed to the Queen were "a question not a statement".
However the leading nature of the alleged question adds weight to previous claims that the Queen would like Britain to pull out of the EU.
Last month the press regulator found that the Sun newspaper had been guilty of "significantly misleading" its readers when it printed the headline "Queen backs Brexit" above a story about the Queen complaining about Brussels to Nick Clegg.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/06/21/queen-asks-guests-to-give-her-3-reasons-why-britain-should-remai/
If you read down, it sounds more like a parlour-game debate than her plotting insurrection.
Is it important that anyone ask her ? Is so, when ?
Not really. She generally doesn't comment on politics, because of her constitutional position - she's supposed to stay above the fray and treat any incoming government impartially. She can advise a prime minister in private, but - although in theory she has some quite fundamental powers of veto - she isn't supposed to make decisions.
The closest she came in recent times was during the Scottish independence referendum when a photo-op was covertly arranged so she could be overheard outside a church service saying people should "think carefully" about their vote. The press ran away with this in much the same way the Telegraph ran away with that rumour above, and with somewhat more grounds. It may have made a very marginal difference for a few people (even bearing in mind that Scotland is surprisingly pro-Queen, if not necessarily pro-Royal Family, in all the opinion polls - even in the event of that referendum resulting in independence, she'd still have been the sovereign of Scotland. No, I don't understand it either.)
Is her opinion likely to carry weight -- with pols, or the citizenry ?
Hard to say. In a fantasy world of mine, she called a press conference at the gates of Buckingham Palace and declared: "This nonsense has gone quite far enough. I've spent a ruddy lifetime trying to hold this insufferable country and Commonwealth together, weekly meetings with the sort of insufferable stuffed mannikin oiks I'd normally set the corgis on if they were loose in the grounds after dark. First you gave me ulcers over Scotland, now you plebs have just gone orf your rockers. It's. Not. Going. To. Happen. Got that? Now sod orf, the lot of you, I quit. I'm 90, you know. I said good day."
In reality, in the vanishingly unlikely event she gave an opinion, it would be major news, but in the end it probably wouldn't make any difference. There'd be more fuss about her giving an opinion than whatever her opinion was.
Is there some ironic chance that aristocracy could save democracy from mobocracy ?
Nope. But it would be fun to be proved wrong.
eppur_se_muova
(36,256 posts)I guess I had a false impression of the extent of the monarch's power.
PM Hacker: "I've never appointed a bishop before !"
Sir Humphrey: {clears throat} " ... recommended an appointment to the sovereign."
mwooldri
(10,302 posts)Others have fully answered the question. She is a figurehead monarch, who may perform certain functions as part of her duties but for the most part she does what she does based on the actions of her government. I'm sure David Cameron and "Lizzie Windsor" (as I affectionately call her) have had a chat about Brexit before the referendum and I bet by telephone afterwards. If she did speak up, her opinion would carry an enormous amount of weight. However, she knows her place and won't.
As for the aristocracy saving the UK? Highly unlikely, as the politicians will probably give their elders as time goes on life peerages and thus be put into the aristocracy.