Queen 'lobbied' the Commonwealth to back Charles: Her Majesty sent her most senior adviser to Australia to ensure the country supported the future king 

  • The Queen sent senior official on a secret mission three years ago
  • The aide's job was to persuade Australian officials to back Prince Charles 
  • Elizabeth II wanted to ensure he succeeded her as head of Commonwealth

The Queen sent her most senior official to ¿lobby¿ a former chair of the Commonwealth 

The Queen sent her most senior official to ‘lobby’ a former chair of the Commonwealth 

The Queen sent her most senior official to ‘lobby’ a former chair of the Commonwealth into backing Prince Charles as her successor as head of the ‘family of nations’.

Former Australian PM Julia Gillard, a republican who was also chair of the Commonwealth from 2011 to 2013, has told how the Queen’s private secretary Sir Christopher Geidt flew to Adelaide see her on a taxpayer-funded secret mission three years ago.

He told Miss Gillard ‘he would fly to Australia to anywhere I was in order to get it’.

Their meeting resulted in her surprise public calling for Charles to take over from the Queen as the ceremonial head of the group of 53 nations.

The statement by Miss Gillard in March 2013 marked a turning point in the future of the Commonwealth.

It read: ‘For Australia’s part, I am sure the Queen’s successor as monarch will one day serve as head of the Commonwealth with the same distinction as Her Majesty has done.’

Although the Queen succeeded her own father, King George VI, as ceremonial head of the global organisation, there is no convention which states that the role should automatically pass to her eldest son.

Buckingham Palace has always publicly insisted it is up to the Commonwealth’s member nations who takes over after the Queen.

But Miss Gillard’s revelation as to how she came to publicly endorse Charles demonstrates how concerned the 90-year-old monarch and her courtiers are at the safe stewardship of the organisation - and Britain’s role in it - following her eventual death.

It has been argued that the Commonwealth will play an even more important role as regards Britain’s position on the global stage following this year’s Brexit vote.

In a lecture on the future of the Commonwealth at King’s College, London, on Friday Miss Gillard said: ‘In early 2013, I was advised that Sir Christopher Geidt, the Queen’s private secretary, wanted half an hour of my time in my capacity as chair of the Commonwealth, an office the host holds until the next meeting. 

'He would fly to Australia to anywhere I was in order to get it.

‘The upshot of our meeting, which took place in Adelaide (the centre of everything, you’ll remember) on 21 February 2013, was a clearly worded statement for the public record about how succession works for the role of the Head of Commonwealth.’ 

Ms Gillard, who is in favour of Australia becoming a republic once the Queen is no longer on the throne, added: ‘I would not want you to think this was some simple act of colonial subservience.

‘I did see wisdom in it. However, the purpose of the statement would have been a mystery to many until Prince Charles attended the next CHOGM in Sri Lanka in the Queen’s place.’ 

The Queen wanted her senior official to push the case for Prince Charles to be her successor as head of the ¿family of nations¿

The Queen wanted her senior official to push the case for Prince Charles to be her successor as head of the ‘family of nations’

Her 2013 remarks came soon after the Queen had missed a series of engagements with symptoms of gastroenteritis. 

It was later announced that the Queen would not be at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Sri Lanka later that year.

It was the first time in 40 years the Queen had missed the summit and came as part of a review of her long-haul travel.

Charles formally opened CHOGM in 2013, representing his mother in the role for the first time - a significant and symbolic step for him as a king-in-waiting.

The new revelation also helps to explain why Sir Christopher was given a second knighthood in 2014, as Miss Gillard herself acknowledges: ‘A snippet of the citation caught my eye: ‘preparation for the transition to a change of reign and relations with the Commonwealth’,’ she said archly.

Professor Philip Murphy, director of the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, described the move as an attempt by Buckingham Palace to ‘sew up’ the job for Charles.

‘I think this is an attempt by the Palace to sew things up for Charles,’ told The Times newspaper.

‘Unlike the succession to the Crown, it isn’t possible to legislate for the Headship succession. So all the Palace can do is to create an expectation that Charles will succeed to the headship. And that’s what Gillard’s carefully-worded statement was intended to do.’ 

A Buckingham Palace spokesman attempted to play down the revelation, however, saying: ‘There is nothing unusual about the private secretary meeting the chair of the Commonwealth in advance of CHOGM summits; especially as, in this case, Sir Christopher wished to inform prime minister Gillard in person that the Queen would regrettably not be attending the gathering in Sri Lanka, and that Her Majesty would instead be represented by the Prince of Wales.'   

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