The Queen remains "politically neutral" in the EU referendum campaign, Buckingham Palace has insisted, after reports claimed the monarch had expressed strong views backing Britain's exit from the EU.
A report published in The Sun on Wednesday said the Queen had shared her views during a lunch at Windsor Castle with Nick Clegg when he was deputy prime minister, and quoted a senior source as saying that people who heard the conversation "were left in no doubt at all about the Queen's views on European integration".
© Photo: Getty ImagesThe Queen is "politically neutral", a Buckingham Palace spokesman has said
However a palace spokesman said they would not comment on "spurious, anonymously sourced claims".
"The Queen remains politically neutral as she has for 63 years," the spokesman said. "We will not comment on spurious, anonymously sourced claims. The referendum is a matter for the British people to decide."
Nick Clegg also denied that the conversation ever happened, and tweeted to say that the reports were "nonsense".
© Photo: Getty ImagesNick Clegg has also dismissed the reports as "nonsense"
"Re Sun story. As I told the journalist this is nonsense. I've no recollection of this happening & its not the sort of thing I would forget," he tweeted.
A spokesperson for the politician added: "This is categorically untrue. Nick has no recollection of this conversation and it is not the sort of conversation you forget."
However The Sun is standing by its report, and when asked for a comment on the Palace's denial, a spokesman said: "The Sun stands by its story, provided by a very credible source."
It is not the first time the Queen's political views have been called into question; ahead of the 2014 Scottish referendum the monarch said she hoped Scots would think carefully about the future, a comment which many interpreted as support to those who were seeking to preserve the United Kingdom.
