So Queen Elizabeth wants any and all Scottish citizens out there to think very ‘carefully’ about the upcoming Scottish independence referendum in Scotland. In other words, the Queen is sort-of-but-not-really threatening anyone who votes yes, even though Buckingham Palace had released an earlier statement claiming that neither Queen Elizabeth nor anyone else in the royal family would be making any statements regarding the vote.
To be fair, the Queen did say all this in private, allegedly in a church near Balmoral, where she’s currently on her annual holiday. According to a Scottish newspaper [The Record], a witness at the church claims the Queen gave her fellow church-goers some ‘advice’, telling the newspaper, “She was lovely and said she hoped everybody would think very carefully about the referendum this week. It was completely unexpected. It was almost like a ‘goodbye’ in case she isn’t Queen of the United Kingdom when she goes to Crathie Church next Sunday. Everyone was completely surprised by the move.”
I don’t know whether the act was quite so unselfish. The royals are obviously against the campaign, supporting a unified state and keeping the status quo. The Queen herself once made a speech in 1977 in support of keeping a unified state, and I doubt her mind’s changed much since then. However, her comments certainly come at a crucial time in the referendum, since we are now mere days away from the big vote (Thursday, September 18) and deciding the matter of Scotland’s independence. And to give credit where it’s due, I have to appreciate that the royals are not making any public statements to the press regarding their stance on the issue. They have far too much sway with the public, and keeping silent allows the people of Scotland to decide their fate – not get influenced by people that really don’t have much to do with their day-to-day lives.
What do you guys think? Should the Queen have stayed quiet regarding her sort-of-private conversation with these churchgoers on the Scottish independence referendum? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Queen Elizabeth Prince Philip Photo Credit: FameFlynet
