The Queen said ‘she backed Brexit’ or did she?..
The BBC’s political editor, Laura Kuenssberg, said she was told by an unnamed contact that the Queen had told a private lunch that she could not see why Britain could not simply leave the EU.
This was some months before the The Sun published its own story with comments from an unnamed parliamentary source using the words: “The 89-year-old monarch firmly told passionate pro-European Mr Clegg that she believed the EU was heading in the wrong direction“, but with the heading “Queen backs Brexit“
Another unnamed source, as these “unnamed sources” seem very popular, might have quoted more of the wording as: “The Queen, who feels that the EU is heading in the wrong direction, but is still good for Britain, says that if the will of the people was to leave then why can’t Britain simply leave the EU? Why does it need to wait?”
Which unnamed source could be right?
Many of those who voted to Remain, also agree with comments such as “the EU was heading in the wrong direction” but that does not make them to be in favour of a Brexit.
The question of “why can’t Britain simply leave the EU” is a valid question for many people, and maybe the queen (if it was said) was getting opinions on this?
Accuracy of Reporting
Buckingham Palace complained to the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) that The Sun breached Clause 1 (Accuracy) of the Editors’ Code of Practice, in an article headlined “Queen Backs Brexit” published on 9 March 2016.
It was found that The Sun had in fact failed to take care not to publish inaccurate, misleading or distorted information in breach of Clause 1 (i).
The BBC had chosen NOT to publish this unnamed, and possibly inaccurate, story.
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