header-logo header-logo

The monarch & the minister

03 October 2019 / Athelstane Aamodt
Issue: 7858 / Categories: Features , Constitutional law
printer mail-detail
8639
A word of advice to David Cameron: the special relationship between the prime minister & the queen should not be taken for granted, says Athelstane Aamodt

David Cameron’s decision to reveal details of his private conversations with the queen in both his recently published autobiography, and also in a Red Box podcast with The Times, has caused Buckingham Palace to express its ‘displeasure and annoyance’ with the former prime minister. The mention of a conversation that they both had about the Scottish referendum on independence has been the principal source of the monarch’s ire, as well his disclosure that the queen had driven at ‘breakneck speed’ at Balmoral and that she had also told Mr Cameron that she was the only woman to have ever driven in Saudi Arabia. 

The monarch usually has a weekly meeting with the prime minister (although it is technically an ‘audience’). These meetings, that are listed in the court circular, are usually held on a Wednesday afternoon, but they are occasionally held on the telephone. The

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Freeths—Ruth Clare

Freeths—Ruth Clare

National real estate team bolstered by partner hire in Manchester

Farrer & Co—Claire Gordon

Farrer & Co—Claire Gordon

Partner appointed head of family team

mfg Solicitors—Neil Harrison

mfg Solicitors—Neil Harrison

Firm strengthens agriculture and rural affairs team with partner return

NEWS
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has launched a recruitment drive for talented early career and more senior barristers and solicitors
Regulators differed in the clarity and consistency of their post-Mazur advice and guidance, according to an interim report by the Legal Services Board (LSB)
The Solicitors Act 1974 may still underpin legal regulation, but its age is increasingly showing. Writing in NLJ this week, Victoria Morrison-Hughes of the Association of Costs Lawyers argues that the Act is ‘out of step with modern consumer law’ and actively deters fairness
A Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) ruling has reopened debate on the availability of ‘user damages’ in competition claims. Writing in NLJ this week, Edward Nyman of Hausfeld explains how the CAT allowed Dr Liza Lovdahl Gormsen’s alternative damages case against Meta to proceed, rejecting arguments that such damages are barred in competition law
The next generation is inheriting more than assets—it is inheriting complexity. Writing in NLJ this week, experts from Penningtons Manches Cooper chart how global mobility, blended families and evolving values are reshaping private wealth advice
back-to-top-scroll