The Queen, a wonderful reminder that in this day and age we can still maintain antiquated structures of power with little or no relevance to the everyday Briton.

She turned 90 and her party was spectacular – great stuff, we’re all truly moved by her longevity in the face of such trying living conditions.

Anyway the massive Brexit vote is set to take place Thursday, Britain voting by referendum to see whether they will leave the EU.

The Queen remains non-political in public, as is the norm, but dig a little deeper and you may find a few hints. That’s what the Daily Beast has done, and here’s what they had to say:

Just last weekend, she spoke up at her birthday celebrations in favor [sic] of the “many benefits that can flow when people come together for a common purpose—as family, friends or neighbors.” This was taken by some as a coded endorsement of her government’s “Remain” policy.

But back in March, someone who it has been widely suggested was Michael Gove, her indiscreet Lord Chancellor, revealed that the Queen had spoken up strongly against the EU in a private 2011 discussion with the then Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg…

“Give me THREE good reasons,” she has, apparently, been asking her dinner companions recently, “why Britain should be part of Europe?”

We won’t get into those reasons, but two that work for me are pissing off Nigel Farage and Boris Johnson (pictured looking like an idiot below).

More on the Queen though:

We know from another leaked royal conversation that the European Court of Human Rights has annoyed the Queen as much as many Britons. She felt that the Court’s shielding of Abu Hamza, the extremist Muslim cleric whom the Home Office wished to deport in 2012, “denigrated” Britain.

But the European Convention on Human Rights predates and operates quite separately from the EU. It is actually a British-inspired institution, first proposed by Winston Churchill in 1948 to impose some standards of behavior on post-war Europe.

So, in summary, what do they conclude the old bat would vote?

As a constitutional monarch, the Queen will not have a vote on June 23^rd.  And although I am only guessing, for those of us who believe we should be seeking to strengthen the European moorings of our miraculously semi-detached realm, I suspect that may be just as well.

I imagine Prince Philip would be egging her on with quips about all the dirty foreigners…

[source:dailybeast]