Former British PM David Cameron ‘asked for queen’s help’ with Scottish independence referendum
- Cameron made the revelation about the 2014 vote in a documentary to promote his new book – risking irritating the nominally neutral head of state
- He quit as British prime minister after losing the Brexit referendum in 2016, the result of which has seen support for Scottish independence surge
Former British prime minister David Cameron revealed on Thursday that he asked Queen Elizabeth to intervene in the Scottish independence referendum, risking the irritation of the nominally neutral head of state.
Cameron, who led the successful campaign for Scotland to stay in the United Kingdom in the 2014 referendum, said he asked if she could offer even a “raising of the eyebrow” to indicate her opposition to independence.
He told the BBC he spoke with the queen’s private secretary, “not asking for anything that would be in any way improper or unconstitutional, but just a raising of the eyebrow, even, you know, a quarter of an inch – we thought would make a difference.”
A few days before the vote, the queen told a member of the public in Scotland that she hoped “people would think very carefully about the future” – comments that made headlines.
Scotland voted by 55 per cent to stay in the UK.
