ABSTRACT

Whatever the pressure of work, the Prime Minister attends a weekly half to one hour audience with the Queen. It is at this weekly meeting that issues will be discussed and the Queen’s views made known to the Prime Minister.15 Channels of communication are facilitated by the Queen’s Private Secretary, whose appointment is the choice of the Queen, and who on appointment will become a Member of the Privy Council. The Private Secretary may not belong to any political party. Very rarely will the Queen’s Private Secretary be drawn into public debate although, in 1986, the then Private Secretary, Sir William Heseltine, wrote to The Times (following public claims that the Queen and Prime Minister – then Mrs Thatcher – disagreed on policy matters). In his letter, Sir William Heseltine spelled out three main points concerning the relationship between the Crown and the Prime Minister:

(a) the Sovereign has the right and duty to counsel, encourage and warn her government. She is thus entitled to have opinions on government policy and to express them to the Prime Minister;

(b) whatever the Queen’s personal opinions may be, she is bound to accept and act on the advice of her Ministers;

(c) the Sovereign is obliged to treat communications with the Prime Minister as entirely confidential.16