MOSCOW, September 15 (RIA Novosti) - Queen Elizabeth II has broken silence on the upcoming independence referendum in Scotland by warning Scots to "think carefully about the future", The Telegraph reports.
The comments were made by the Queen after she broke her usual protocol and spoke with well-wishers outside the church near Balmoral castle. Usually, the Queen and other members of the Royal family attend around 20 Sunday services per year at Crathie Kirk, a small Church of Scotland parish church. She generally doesn’t speak to bystanders waiting near the kirk, but this time she decided to do so. Unusually, a police officer invited a group of journalists to come up to the church to see the royal party leave the service, enabling them to hear the Queen’s remarks.
“Well, I hope people will think very carefully about the future.” the Queen is reported to have said.
With only four days left before the referendum, the Monarch’s comments became a significant intervention reflecting her hope for Scots to consider closely what their historic votes would mean.
Buckingham Palace insiders insisted her word were politically neutral, however on Sunday night they were being considered as the clearest sign of the Queen’s hope for a No vote in the referendum on Thursday. Henry Bellingham, a Tory parliamentarian, said that Royal observers would have "no doubt about her views".
The Queen’s remarks came after Prince Harry said that "only the British could have pulled off" the Invictus Games for injured service personnel and he would love to keep the event in the UK, including hosting it in Glasgow.
Earlier, the Buckingham Palace has rejected calls from Labour and Tory lawmakers for the monarch to comment on the potential break-up of the realm as she did in 1977 when Scotland and Wales were voting on devolved national assemblies.
In one of her speeches on the Silver Jubilee, the Queen opposed the idea of breaking up the United Kingdom, saying: "I cannot forget that I was crowned Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and of Northern Ireland."
However, Alex Salmond, the Leader of the Scottish National Party, suggested that the monarch supported Scottish independence, saying that she would be "proud" to be "Queen of the Scots".
Asked what the Queen had said to the well-wishers, a woman who refused name herself replied: "She was lovely and said she hoped everybody would think very carefully about the referendum this week".
The Rev Ken MacKenzie, the minister at Crathie, confirmed that it was unusual for the Queen to speak to the public near the church, but he did not hear her comments.
"The Queen did go on a bit of a walkabout, which is a really quite unusual thing for her to do. I don’t know what she said, but I heard something similar reported. I think it was a recognition of the fact that this was an important time for the nation." he added.
A Buckingham Palace spokesman said: “We would never comment on a private interchange." An insider suggested that the comment was "completely spontaneous" and made in response to a remark from the crowd.
"Clearly the Queen being the most experienced of the lot of us knows where the line is drawn and in some ways it reinforces her view that it is for the Scottish people to decide,” the insider said as cited by the Telegraph.
At the same time, Mr. Bellingham was a Coalition Foreign minister from 2010 to 2012, said: “Anyone who has been a follower of the queen has said over the years should be in no doubt about her views, her incredible support for the Union.”
“She means that the people of Scotland should stay with England and the rest of the United Kingdom. I am pleased that she has made a contribution to the discussion.” Simon Danczuk, a Labour lawmaker, believes.
But a spokesman for the pro-separation Yes Scotland campaign said: “Her Majesty is echoing the message from Yes Scotland to all voters – to think very carefully about this one opportunity that Scotland will have on Thursday to choose our future."
The pro-UK Better Together campaign declined to comment, saying that "Buckingham Palace has been at pains to stress that the Queen has no position on the independence referendum."
The Queen was at church with the Duke of Edinburgh, the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall, the Duke of York and the Duke of Cambridge. The others did not speak to the public.
