The supposed non-partisan role of Britain’s feudal head of state has again been put in doubt, this time by an admission by former prime minister David Cameron that he asked her to express opposition to independence for Scotland before the 2014 referendum.
Subsequently Windsor asked Scots to “think very carefully about the future” before voting. This was understood as implying that independence would be bad for Scotland.
Cameron made his request directly and through Windsor’s private secretary. He claims that these attempts to get Windsor to take sides was not improper or unconstitutional.
This revelation undercuts the argument of monarchists that an hereditary head of state is above politics and able to unite the nation in a way that a democratic one could not.