Boris Johnson: New biography is wrong to claim the Queen was a Remainer

A new book by former royal correspondent Valentine Low cited sources claiming the Queen was convinced the stability of remaining in the EU was the correct route for Britain.

However, when asked about this claim by The Scotsman the former prime minister emphasised Her Majesty took no position on the 2015 Brexit referendum.

At an event in Edinburgh’s Usher Hall, Mr Johnson was asked: “We heard this week that a new book about the royal family said the Queen was a Remainer.

“Do you think that’s true?”

The former Conservative leader initially demurred, saying: “I'm not really allowed to talk about this.”

When pressed, he added that he would “steer away” from the suggestion the Queen wanted Britain to vote to stay in the European Union.

He added: “What can I say that won’t break the terms of my Privy Council oath? I think that's right.

“Look, what I can say without breaking terms of my Privy Council is, I would steer you away from that one.

“I would steer you away from that.”

Mr Johnson went on to tell an anecdote about the Queen, who was famously a horsewoman and hands-on with her stables, and her concerns around the practicalities of studding her brood mares.

The female horses, he said “needed regular contact with their boyfriends”, which were in France.

Mr Johnson said: “The only issue that she was concerned about was the fate of her brood mares, which she had, as everybody knows, quite a few, and they needed regular contact with their boyfriends.

“And there was a terrible moment when all their boyfriends were in France, and I was tasked with sorting out, you know, a mercy dash.”

“Anyway, it all worked out swimmingly,” Mr Johnson added, with innuendo.

He went on: “And it turned out to be a great Brexit triumph.

“But that was the only issue that I had to resolve for her.”

Mr Johnson used the Usher Hall session to give his thoughts on Brexit, international affairs, his time as Prime Minister and his thoughts on Nicola Sturgeon.

He said the First Minister had made a “fatal error” on backing gender self-ID and that her legacy would be in keeping the UK together.

He said he did not believe Scotland would ever separate from the rest of the United Kingdom.

Mr Johnson had also refused to rule out running again to be Prime Minister. He said: “It might be technically possible, but it’s deeply unrealistic.

“It's what the Queen always used to say to me about politics, the politician should only do things if … it's about the voters.

“Obviously I can't exclude that in the future there might be a chance but frankly, at present, it's pie in the sky.”

Asked after the event to clarify his position on the Queen and Brexit, Mr Johnson added to The Scotsman: “I would steer anyone away from saying that the Queen took a position on Brexit because ultimately she was not required to make that choice.

“She quite properly did not take part in the referendum vote.”