In 1995 queen Elizabeh Windsor let the government know discreetly that she would “very much” like citizens to buy her a new ocean-going yacht to replace Britannia, which was going out of service. But her aides did not want those citizens to know that Windsor was lobbying for the new boat. And at that time it was kept quiet.
In 2018 Philip Murphy of the University of London found a Welsh Office document in the National Archives that disclosed Windsor’s request. The secret was out.
By January 2019, however, the document had been removed from public inspection according to a report in The Times newspaper. The National Archives catalogue now states that “This record is closed whilst access is under review”. The truth is a state secret again.
It seems that the monarchist state has no shame in its determination to fool the people that the feudal head of state is one whose privileges are justified by a selfless and wise nature. When the truth about the greed of a person of extraordinary wealth and privilege escapes from the vault it must the pushed back in and the door locked.