Scottish independence: What will happen to the Queen?
By Esther
Webber
BBC News
11
September 2014
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-29126569
Buckingham
Palace has made it clear that the Queen does not wish to influence the Scottish
referendum, saying it is "a matter for the people of Scotland". But
would the Queen's role north of the border change if Scotland votes for
independence?
The Royal
Family's links with Scotland are well-known: Balmoral Castle in Aberdeenshire
is one its most famous residences, bought for Queen Victoria by Prince Albert.
The Queen
spends a week every year at Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh, the official
residence of the British monarch in Scotland.
Prince
Charles went to boarding school in Scotland and is often seen sporting a kilt.
The Royal
Family also has Scottish titles - Prince Charles carries the title Duke of
Rothesay, while the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are referred to as the Earl
and Countess of Strathearn.
Scotland's
First Minister Alex Salmond is keen to stress these associations, pointing out
that the union of the crowns predates the union of the parliaments which he
wishes to end.
His
government has always maintained that the Queen would still be "Queen of
Scots" if the country votes "Yes" on 18 September.
Earlier
this week, he said the Queen "would be proud" to be the monarch of an
independent Scotland.
The Royal
Family's future in Scotland has been questioned by pro-independence campaigners
such as chair of the Yes Scotland campaign Dennis Canavan, who has said he
personally favours a referendum on who should be the head of state.
Buckingham Palace:
"The sovereign's constitutional impartiality is
an established principle of our democracy and one which the Queen has
demonstrated throughout her reign.
"As such the monarch is above politics and those
in political office have a duty to ensure that this remains the case.
"Any suggestion that the Queen would wish to
influence the outcome of the current referendum campaign is categorically
wrong.
"Her Majesty is firmly of the view that this is a
matter for the people of Scotland."
Monarch 'above politics' Palace says
Members of
the Radical Independence movement - a coalition of activists on the left -
would also like to enable Scotland to become a republic if it wants to do so.
Earlier
this month, a YouGov poll suggested 54% of Scots favour keeping the monarchy if
Scotland votes "Yes", compared with 39% who would like to see it
scrapped. Among SNP voters this narrows to 46% compared with 39%, though the
survey had a smaller sample size.
Although
these figures indicate the monarchy still has more fans than it does
detractors, in the UK as a whole support is higher, at 77%, and opposition is
lower, at 17%, according to Ipsos MORI's latest survey.
Even if Mr
Salmond gets his preference and the Queen remains head of state in an
independent Scotland, her role would be likely to change, according to director
of UCL's Constitution Unit, Professor Robert Hazell.
He says the
Queen's duties would "depend on the role provided for head of state in
Scotland's new written constitution".
The
Scottish government has specified that under independence, the people of
Scotland would be sovereign, whereas at present sovereignty rests with the
Crown in Parliament.
There is
also the question of funding. The White Paper says it would be "right for
an independent Scotland to continue to contribute to the expenses of the
monarchy through taxes" but precise arrangements would be decided in
post-referendum negotiations.
Holyrood
Palace would presumably be under particular scrutiny here, since unlike
Balmoral, it is partly funded by the public purse and its conservation is
carried out by a Scottish government executive agency, Historic Scotland.
Such a
situation is not unprecedented. The Queen's responsibilities in Scotland are
"likely to be very similar to her role she fills in the Commonwealth
realms of which she is head of state such as Australia and New Zealand",
says Prof Hazell.
In most Commonwealth
countries, the Queen is regularly briefed through a governor-general who acts
as her representative.
So would a
governor-general be introduced in Scotland?
Constitutional
historian Lord Hennessy told BBC Radio 4's The World at One the idea has not
been floated because of Westminster's insistence on not making any contingency
plans for Scottish independence.
"I'd
be very surprised if in any cupboard there was 'what do we do about HM Queen in
the event of a Yes vote'," he says.
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