Published 16:38 IST, February 8th 2021
Queen Elizabeth II pressurized UK govt for clause in law to conceal private wealth: Report
The UK and Commonwealth Head of State, Queen Elizabeth II lobbied the British government to change a draft law in the order to conceal her wealth from public.
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The UK and Commonwealth Head of State, Queen Elizabeth II lobbied the British government to change a draft law in the order to conceal her “embarrassing” private wealth from the public, reported The Guardian citing the documents it accessed. Following the uncovering of a series of government memos in the National Archives, it has been reportedly revealed that Elizabeth Windsor’s private lawyer, Matthew Farrer pressurised the UK ministers to alter proposed legislation to prevent her shareholdings from being disclosed to the public.
After the UK monarch was intervented, the government inserted a clause into the law granting itself the authority to exempt the companies used by the “heads of state” from new transparency measures. The left-leaning newspaper reportedly maintained that the Queen’s consent, an archaic procedure of seeking a go-ahead from the sovereign before legislation is passed in its final reading acted as a hurdle for the law.
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The news outlet also published a series of letters disclose the ‘pressure campaign’ that British government officials were subjected to before they reportedly reluctantly included an exemption for the Crown, and effectively agreeing to create a shell company whose owner would remain anonymous with exact dealings undisclosed.
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As per the report, the shell company was run by senior Bank of England employees and the bank kept its reins on the company until 2011 when the entire operation was closed. Moreover, the fate of the shares within it is unknown as no public accounts were ever filed. A Buckingham Palace spokesperson reportedly said that Queen Elizabeth II’s consent was “a parliamentary process, with the role of sovereign purely formal."
"Consent is always granted by the monarch were requested by the government. Any assertion that the sovereign has blocked legislation is simply incorrect," the spokesperson added. Meanwhile, the true extent of the UK monarch’s wealth has never been disclosed. However, it has been reportedly estimated that it runs into the hundreds of millions of pounds.
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(With inputs from ANI)
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What is Queen’s consent?
Queen lobbying the UK Ministers with evidence was uncovered by the media outlet after launching an investigation into the royal family’s use of an arcane parliamentary procedure which is known as Queen’s consent in order to secretly influence the formation of British laws. Unlike the reportedly better-known procedure of royal assent, a formality that marks the moment when a bill becomes a law, the consent of the Queen must be sought before the legislation can be approved by the Britsih parliament. It basically requires the UK ministers to alert the Queen when legislation might affect the royal prerogative or even the private interests of the monarch.
16:40 IST, February 8th 2021