British PM to apologise to queen over purring gaffe
Cameron said he was "very embarrassed" and "extremely sorry" about what had happened.
LONDON (AFP) - British Prime Minister David Cameron will apologise to Queen Elizabeth II in person for eyebrow-raising comments about how she "purred" down the telephone when he told her that Scotland had rejected independence last week.
Cameron was caught on camera Tuesday making the remarks to former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg in the United States, where he was attending the UN General Assembly, in what monarchy watchers have called a breach of protocol.
"The definition of relief is being the prime minister of the United Kingdom and ringing the queen and saying: It s alright, it s OK. That was something," Cameron said. "She purred down the line."
Cameron said he was "very embarrassed" and "extremely sorry" about what had happened. It is thought he will apologise to the 88-year-old monarch at the next of their regular weekly meetings.
"It was a private conversation, but clearly a private conversation that I shouldn t have had and won t have again," he told reporters in New York.
"My office has already been in touch with the palace to make that clear and I will do so as well."
- Gossiping motormouth -
By constitutional convention, the queen must remain impartial over political issues such as the Scottish independence debate and any discussions between the executive branch and the sovereign must remain confidential.
Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond said Cameron should "hang his head in shame" and opposition Labour party lawmaker Paul Flynn described him as a "gossiping motormouth".
"I think it s a major blunder..., particularly embarrassing because he was speaking about a sensitive and divisive political issue," Flynn said.
The queen is kept up to date on affairs of state at weekly audiences with the prime minister and has so far met with 12 British leaders during her 62-year reign.
She reportedly had a difficult relationship with Margaret Thatcher because the late leader "would not listen," but leaks from these private meetings are rare.
However, Buckingham Palace was not amused by revelations in former leader Tony Blair s memoirs in which he described the queen doing the washing up and her husband Prince Philip arranging a barbecue when he visited her Balmoral residence in the Scottish Highlands.
Royal officials had insisted the queen would not seek to influence last Thursday s closely-fought referendum.
"Any suggestion that the queen would wish to influence the outcome of the current referendum campaign is categorically wrong. Her Majesty is simply of the view this is a matter for the people of Scotland," a spokesman for Buckingham Palace said during the campaign.
"The monarch is above politics and those in political office have a duty to ensure this remains the case," the spokesman said.
But the queen did tell a well-wisher days before the vote: "I hope people will think very carefully about the future."
After the vote for Scotland to stay in the United Kingdom, the queen called for Scots to display "a spirit of unity" in a statement from Balmoral.
