Elizabeth II was ‘very understanding’ of the world’s financial problems – Gordon Brown – Auto Republish
Reported by:
Original Source: Source link
Queen Elizabeth II had “very understanding” of the problems facing the world during the 2008 financial crisis, Gordon Brown said.
The former prime minister recalls his many meetings with the Queen prior to her funeral on Monday.
He first met the Queen nearly four decades ago when she opened the Mossmorran chemical plant in Fife in 1986.
Mr Brown, a former MP from Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath, would then attend regular audiences with the Queen while presenting the budget as Chancellor and later Prime Minister from 2007 to 2010.
His tenure came during the severe global economic crisis that plunged Britain into recession.
She was diligent, dutiful, read all the papers and never tried to tell you what to do, but was always ready to ask questions.
Gordon Brown
Speaking to TSWT Radio Scotland’s Sunday Show, Mr Brown said: “She was very understanding of the challenges we were all facing at the time of the global financial crisis.”
The late monarch, he said, volunteered to entertain world leaders at the G20 meeting in 2009 — as the effects of the crisis began to unfold.
During the meeting, the Queen put former Italian minister Silvio Berlusconi “in place” for arriving late.
Mr Brown recalled: “We had this group photo and she was in the middle. I sat next to her, Obama was there.
“Berlusconi comes in late and yells ‘Obama’ and wants to be the center of attention – running straight for the Queen and Obama.
“And of course the sternest look, I’ve never seen anything like it. Berlusconi has certainly been put in his place by the Queen.”
The former Labor leader also told how the Queen was always up to date on current affairs but never tried to “impose her will” on the elected government.
(Left-right) Former Prime Ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown at the Accession Council ceremony at St James’s Palace, London, where King Charles III was formally proclaimed monarch (Kirsty O’Connor/PA)
(PA wire)
He added: “She was diligent, dutiful, read all the papers and never tried to tell you what to do, but was always ready to ask questions.
‘She asked me ‘why were the bankers doing so badly?’ because of the financial crisis, but she would never impose her will.”
“I think the dignified role of the monarchy that Prince Charles has promised to maintain has really been proven in the way she handled affairs of state, that she was there to listen,” he added.
“She was there to ask questions, but she wasn’t there to impose her will. That was for the elected parliament of the day.”
Leave a Reply