Tony Benn Quotes
If the Queen can reject the advice of a minister on a little thing like a postage stamp, what would happen if she rejected the advice of the Prime Minister on a major matter? If the Crown personally can reject advice, then, of course, the whole democratic facade turns out to be false
Benn, Tony. Out of the Wilderness: Diaries 1963-67. Hutchinson, 1987.
Actually, Queen Elisabeth II, at that time the Queen of England, was very sophisticated about the policies of the nation. Chomsky’s point was not that the Queen was ignorant; it was that her role is ceremonial and it is not critical or even material that the monarch in a Constitutional Democracy understands or approves of the government program that is being presented.
1st Earl of Beaconsfield
Lord Palmerston, John Henry Temple, had been the Foreign Minister. He had a style which like President George W. Bush, was perceived by foreign governments to be condescending and insulting. His policies were generally in line with the Prime Minister’s desires and the Queen’s but he was involved with one negative incident after another. England had sunk to it’s lowest public opinion assessment European had seen in years. The Queen was very distressed. Palmerstone a very senior and popular politician with a great deal of experience resented this young girl micromanaging his policies and statements. On several occasions he went ahead with a policy “forgetting” to clear it with the Queen in advance. To the degree the Queen had a political enemy, Palmerston was it. He controlled an important bloc of Prime Minister John Russell’s narrowly ruling party. When the Queen talked to the Prime Minister about firing the Foreign Secretary, Russell always pointed out that while there were ample grounds for firing, pragmatically he might not be able to hold a majority without the Foreign Secretary in the Cabinet. The Queen had great respect for Russell and did not wish the government to be in a crises so she repeatedly put up with Palmerston’s gaffs and insult. After a few years the political situation changed and Palmerston was no longer critical to the government and at his next incident the Prime Minister and the Queen agreed to terminate the Foreign Secretary. The quotation shows the Queen wanting the Prime minister to avoid embarrassing the man who had vexed her for several years. She was very “lady-like” and showed no interest in payback or vengeance. Many historians argue that if she were a male king, Palmerston would have been gone long before regardless of the cost as he had challenged the monarch. However, perhaps a female national leader does not have the instinct from the rutting male mammals that men seem to show when they deal with rivals. Palmerston was eased out of office with great praise and thanks from the Prime Minister and the Queen.
Anthony Neil Wedgwood Benn was a British politician, writer and diarist who served as a Cabinet minister in the 1960s and 1970s. A member of the Labour Party, he was Member of Parliament for Bristol South East and Chesterfield for 47 of the 51 years between 1950 and 2001. He later served as President of the Stop the War Coalition from 2001 to 2014.
