THE SPECTATOR
THE QUEEN'S ALIEN CIRCLE
Last week, Mrs Thatcher and her Gov- ernment were in a very difficult position. Her opposition to economic sanctions against South Africa had isolated Britain from other Commonwealth countries and was said to be embarrassing the Queen. Now everything has changed. On Sunday, the Sunday Times published a report that `close advisers' of the Queen had reported that Her Majesty was critical of Mrs Thatcher's government. Going much furth- er than conveying Royal anxiety about Commonwealth harmony, these advisers said that the Queen believed that Mrs Thatcher lacked compassion, that she had harmed the 'social fabric' in the miners' strike, that she had been wrong to allow American planes to fly from Britain to Libya and that she was destroying the valuable 'consensus' in British politics. If these advisers had added that the Queen thought that Mrs Thatcher was a ghastly, lumped-up grocer'S daughter they would hardly have been more forthright than they were. As a result of this extraordinary report, the Prime Minister is once again in a strong position. For the monarchy has gone far beyond its normally accepted rights, throwing itself into political con- troversy, and over an issue where there is little popular sentiment in favour of the Queen's point of view. There is a possibil- ity, of course, that the Sunday Times was exaggerating to the point of falsehood. But Mr Andrew Neil, the paper's editor, insists that the source was genuine, even that the story was read back to the source to make sure that it would stand up. He has to be believed. And the story could not have been so strongly supported if the source were not a Buckingham Palace official at the highest level, one of four or five people. The story did not slip out inadver- tently. The source thought about it and intended it. The next question is whether the Queen herself knew of or encouraged the leak. To Mr Enoch Powell, this notion is 'just incredible', and anyone thinking it must be 'quite barmy'. One wishes that one could be sure that he is right, but since the truth will not emerge, it is idle to speculate further. What is clear is that an atmosphere has been created in Buckingham Palace in which is seems natural to make these remarks. What ought also to be clear is that this is a disgraceful situation. Perhaps because of the huge popularity of the royal family, particularly evident in the celebra- tion of the royal wedding this week, perhaps because the Queen's experience is now so much vaster than that of all practising politicians, she may now imagine that she is immune from the normal rules which govern the relations between Sovereign and prime minister. The Queen may believe that her role as Head of the Commonwealth entitles her to put 'world' considerations before those of her own Government. If so, she is extremely badly advised. The popularity of the royal family is not inevitable and it is not the result of the personal prestige of any of its indi- vidual members. It has been painstakingly built up by the tradition of dutifulness which Victoria began in her later years, by selfless example in war, and by the studied avoidance of political controversy. A cen- tury of achievement could easily be frit- tered away by a few months of rancorous argument. This crisis would quickly get much worse if Mrs Thatcher were not behaving more correctly than the Palace. She has every right to complain that illegitimate pressures are being put on her Government. She must be sorely tempted to make a fierce, populist speech asserting this nation's right to pursue its own line without meddling from international bodies. She has not chosen to do so: the Palace should be equally restrained. Be- hind all this is a renewed attempt by the British Establishment to embarrass Mrs Thatcher, perhaps even to get rid of her. It was Lord Whitelaw who started the latest round of leaking about the Queen's con- cern last week. It is the international circle of Commonwealth potentates that tries to make life difficult for the Government and has noticed that it can do so by exploiting the Queen. As the Archbishop of Canter- bury said of the friends of Edward VIII, this is a circle 'whose standards and ways of life are alien to all the best instincts and traditions of his people'. The Queen should have nothing to do with it.
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