‘All Labour prime ministers go gaga for the Queen,’ sighed Cherie Blair, played by Helen McCrory, in the 2006 film about the death of Diana, Princess of Wales. Her words were fictitious but the sentiment is real. From Ramsay MacDonald to Harold Wilson, left-wing prime ministers invariably end up as royalists. The current cabinet is no exception: former republicans such as Lisa Nandy have been charmed by Charles III. Even Keir Starmer – who once boasted on camera that he ‘often used to propose the abolition of the monarchy’ – is said to have a warm relationship with the King.
Yet geniality is only one reason why Labour loves the monarchy. The King has been a helpful sovereign to Labour ministers. He hugged Volodymyr Zelensky at Sandringham, toured new homes with Starmer in Cornwall and even appeared to endorse Ed Miliband’s energy summit. Senior Tories compare these gestures with unhelpful royal headlines from their time in office. ‘We all know he’s a leftie,’ grumbles one former cabinet minister.
As Starmer’s team wrestles with the rest of the public sector, the royal family is productive, popular and electorally advantageous. Household staff exhibit a wage restraint that Treasury bean counters can only envy. As one cynical minister notes: ‘The royals are one of the few services in this country that works properly.’ A year ago, Sue Gray warned that Thames Water, universities and councils going bust were three major risks facing a new government. Pay negotiations, prisons and NHS funding completed her six-point ‘shit list’. Twelve months on, Gray is gone and most of these problems seem, if anything, to be getting only worse.
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