British PM says Queen keeps him on his toes
UK: British Prime Minister David Cameron said Queen Elizabeth II
keeps him on his toes with some sharp questions during their weekly
meetings.
Cameron said he found the Wednesday evening audiences "therapeutic"
as the 86-year-old sovereign puts the country's problems in perspective.
Cameron's comments came in a documentary called "Our Queen", to be
broadcast Sunday on ITV television.
The documentary follows the story of the 2012 diamond jubilee year,
the queen's 60th on the throne.
As a constitutional monarch, Queen Elizabeth is politically neutral
but has a right and duty to express her view on go
vernment matters.
The sovereign has the right to be consulted, to encourage and to
warn.
The meetings with her prime ministers are strictly confidental -- no
notes are taken and nobody else is present.
Cameron is the 12th British Prime Minister to serve under Queen
Elizabeth.
The first was Winston Churchill.
"There's a very therapeutic side to it, because as you explain the
particular problem that the government has, or a particular challenge
the country's facing, sometimes you find it is all becoming clearer as
you explain it to this one incredibly experienced person," Cameron said.
The Conservative leader said he was "very conscious" that he was the
12th British Prime Minister that the queen has dealt with.
"She's been listening to this stuff for 60 years... and you get some
pretty good questions which you need to think of some good answers to,"
he said.
AFP
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