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| David Cameron to Apologize for Saying Queen ‘Purred’ Over Scottish Vote Result | David Cameron to Apologize for Saying Queen ‘Purred’ Over Scottish Vote Result |
| (about 7 hours later) | |
| LONDON — By the arcane protocols governing monarchs and ministers, it was a moment that should never have happened. | LONDON — By the arcane protocols governing monarchs and ministers, it was a moment that should never have happened. |
| Caught by a television crew’s microphone, Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain was overheard during a visit to New York this week telling the former mayor, Michael R. Bloomberg, that Queen Elizabeth II “purred” when he called to inform her that Scottish voters had rejected independence in a referendum. | |
| “The definition of relief, if you are prime minister of the United Kingdom, is ringing up Her Majesty the Queen and saying ‘Your Majesty, it is all right, it’s O.K.’ ” Mr. Cameron told Mr. Bloomberg. “That was something. She purred down the line.” | “The definition of relief, if you are prime minister of the United Kingdom, is ringing up Her Majesty the Queen and saying ‘Your Majesty, it is all right, it’s O.K.’ ” Mr. Cameron told Mr. Bloomberg. “That was something. She purred down the line.” |
| The language aside — purring on the phone is usually associated with a different kind of communication — Mr. Cameron’s remarks were a kind of undiplomatic double whammy. | The language aside — purring on the phone is usually associated with a different kind of communication — Mr. Cameron’s remarks were a kind of undiplomatic double whammy. |
| As a constitutional monarch, the queen is not supposed to express political views, and the prime ministers who have regular contact with her — there have been 12, including Mr. Cameron, since her accession to the throne in 1952 — are not supposed to tell. | |
| “The queen has a special relationship with the prime minister, the senior political figure in the British government, regardless of their political party,” the royal website explains. | |
| While the queen grants a weekly audience to the prime minister (her first such interlocutor was Winston Churchill), “these meetings, as with all communications between the queen and her government, remain strictly confidential,” the website says. | While the queen grants a weekly audience to the prime minister (her first such interlocutor was Winston Churchill), “these meetings, as with all communications between the queen and her government, remain strictly confidential,” the website says. |
| Mr. Cameron’s call to Her Majesty last week was particularly momentous. Voters in Scotland had chosen to reject secession. The United Kingdom remained united. Arguably, she had good reason to purr. | Mr. Cameron’s call to Her Majesty last week was particularly momentous. Voters in Scotland had chosen to reject secession. The United Kingdom remained united. Arguably, she had good reason to purr. |
| But now, Mr. Cameron has been obliged to apologize for what a Scottish lawmaker, Dennis Robertson, called his “crass and incompetent behavior.” | But now, Mr. Cameron has been obliged to apologize for what a Scottish lawmaker, Dennis Robertson, called his “crass and incompetent behavior.” |
| “Look, I’m very embarrassed by this,” Mr. Cameron told reporters in New York. “I’m extremely sorry about it. It was a private conversation, but clearly a private conversation that I shouldn’t have had and won’t have again.” | “Look, I’m very embarrassed by this,” Mr. Cameron told reporters in New York. “I’m extremely sorry about it. It was a private conversation, but clearly a private conversation that I shouldn’t have had and won’t have again.” |
| His office has already expressed its regrets about the incident to her office, he said. And he plans to offer the queen a personal apology at their next private audience. | His office has already expressed its regrets about the incident to her office, he said. And he plans to offer the queen a personal apology at their next private audience. |
| Details of that encounter will most likely not be divulged. | Details of that encounter will most likely not be divulged. |