Scotland's nationalist-led devolved government has been accused of giving Queen Elizabeth II a "back channel" to alter regional legislation.
An internal memo obtained by The Guardian indicated that Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon's regional administration granted the British monarch the privilege of 'Queen's consent' over 67 pieces of legislation.
"It is also almost certain that some bills were changed before introduction in order to address concerns about crown consent, however these will not have been ‘amended’ in parliamentary terms and so would not be included in such a list," the memo reads.
The leaked memo was written in response to a parliamentary question by Willie Rennie, then the leader of the Holyrood assembly's smallest party the Scottish Liberal Democrats. That followed an earlier investigative report by The Guardian which uncovered the indicating
Queen's consent requires the government to consult the hereditary head of state over any proposed legislation that might affect her prerogatives and interests. In England the right is also extended to the Duchy of Cornwall — the estate of the Prince of Wales — granting the same power to Prince Charles over laws made in Westminster.
The revelation could be embarrassing for the Scottish National Party (SNP), after its leader Sturgeon vowed to hold an unauthorised repeat of the 2014 independence referendum in 2023.
The Lib Dems, the smallest of five parties in the Holyrood assembly, said the memo revealed the hidden hand of the crown in legislation for Scotland.
“These documents suggest that there has been meddling in the process even before government legislation was first shown to parliament,” said party leader Alex Cole-Hamilton.
"It appears as if, with the willing compliance of Scottish ministers, the crown has maintained a back channel to sneak amendments into legislation in such a way as to leave no way for the public or their parliamentary representatives to ever know that changes had been requested or made," Cole-Hamilton continued. "This is an astonishing overturning of the widely held principle that the monarch does not legislate for her own benefit."
Under UK constitutional law, all legislation passed by Parliament must be granted royal assent before it comes into force. But the royal family has for centuries maintained political impartiality, allowing Parliament to wield royal power on its behalf.