The Rt. Hon. Sir John Major KG CH

Tag: HM Queen Elizabeth II

  • Sir John Major’s Letter to the Daily Telegraph on The Crown – 5 November 2022

    The letter sent by Sir John Major to the Daily Telegraph on 5 November 2022.

    SIR – I, and many others, have voiced our disquiet and dismay over some of the scenes which we are told are depicted in the forthcoming season of The Crown.

    Netflix may well take the view that any publicity is good publicity. But I assure them it is not – most especially when it disrespects the memory of those no longer alive, or puts words into the mouths of those still living and in no position to defend themselves. Fiction should not be paraded as fact.

    I have not seen the forthcoming series, but have been told by those who have that there are scenes depicted which I know to be utterly untrue, and will be profoundly hurtful to a family who are still grieving for the very person on whose life the entire drama was founded.

    I gather Netflix continues to refuse to put out a disclaimer at the very top of the opening credits, on the basis that “everyone knows this is a drama series”. But this is simply not good enough. If everyone knows, why not acknowledge that? Without such action, many millions – around the world – could still be influenced by a damaging and fictional script, which claims “authority” by being interspersed with historical fact.

    Entertainment is a great and glorious industry that brings enormous pleasure to many millions. Netflix should not demean it with portrayals which are both injurious and untrue.

    Sir John Major

    London, SW1

  • Statement on The Crown – 15 October 2022

    A statement issued on 15 October 2022 by Sir John Major’s spokesman regarding The Crown.

    STATEMENT ON THE CROWN

    1. Sir John has not co-operated – in any way – with The Crown. Nor has he ever been approached by them to fact check any script material in this or any other series.

    2. Discussions between the Monarch and Prime Minister are entirely private and – for Sir John – will always remain so. But not one of the scenes you depict are accurate – in any way whatsoever. They are fiction, pure and simple.

    3. There was never any discussion between Sir John and the then Prince of Wales about any possible abdication of the late Queen Elizabeth II – nor was such an improbable and improper subject ever raised by the then Prince of Wales (or Sir John).

    4. Neither Sir John nor Dame Norma have discussed the Monarchy remotely in the terms you suggest in your email. What you report as depicted in the script has never been their view, never would be their view, and never will be their view.

    Thus, if the scenes you describe are broadcast, they should be seen as nothing other than damaging and malicious fiction. A barrel-load of nonsense peddled for no other reason than to provide maximum – and entirely false – dramatic impact.

  • Sir John Major’s Interview on ITN Following the Death of HM Queen Elizabeth II – 8 September 2022

    Sir John Major’s interview with ITN on 8 September 2022.

    INTERVIEWER

    A very good evening to you, Sir John. First of all, your thoughts this evening?

    SIR JOHN MAJOR

    I think it’s heartbreaking news and it will be extremely sad news for millions of people across this country and far beyond. The Queen has been in the warp and weft of our lives for 70 years and there are many people in this country who remember nothing but the Queen being our Monarch. So I think there’ll be many tears shed tonight and justifiably so for a very remarkable woman.

    INTERVIEWER

    I mean, it must be hard for you to compute how many personal memories you must have of your encounters with her in those private moments when she would have listened and offered words of advice. Just talk to us a little bit about those.

    SIR JOHN MAJOR

    When people normally ask that question, they have in mind the private audiences the Prime Minister has with the Queen. Of course, that’s entirely true, but they were very informal. It was just the Queen and the Prime Minister, they would sit together perhaps for an hour, perhaps longer, mostly longer in my experience, surrounded only by the corgis. There’s no record made of the meeting and there’s no private secretary present. It’s entirely private and there is no issue that is off the agenda. Either Her Majesty or the Prime Minister can raise and talk about anything.

    They’re extraordinarily useful as every Prime Minister will tell you. But there are other occasions as well, I remember visits to Balmoral when you were a guest of the Queen and Prince Philip and they were very informal. There would almost certainly be an informal evening out with a barbecue which Prince Philip would cook and as the Queen at the end of the barbecue would insist on doing the washing up and deny any help from any source. They were very informal.

    People forget behind the facade of Majesty and the importance of royalty and the responsibilities that the royal family, and particularly the Queen, have, there lies individuals who are empathetic, who have their interests and also have a great responsibility for millions of other people that they discharge. I think the Queen gave a great example of that throughout the whole of her long period as Monarch.

    INTERVIEWER

    You’re in that very privileged position Sir John of seeing that family Queen, if you like, after those wonderful invitations to Balmoral, but also getting a very deep sense of her constitutional role in those moments of high state. Just offer some reflections on those two, what have we lost, as in the Queen as head of state?

    SIR JOHN MAJOR

    You’ve lost someone who is remarkably wise and remarkably experienced, there is no-one on this earth who has met so many heads of government and read so many national papers of importance and briefing as Her Majesty the Queen. There is nobody in any country in the world who can remotely match that and that is an extraordinary reservoir of wisdom and experience. The Queen’s historic memory of what has happened in the past stretches back far longer than any civil service adviser you will come across. That is an extremely valuable resource.

    I think what people perhaps don’t understand is the extent of empathy that there is, the extent to which the Queen actually understands and will question about the lives of people in different parts of the United Kingdom who may be facing difficulties. She’s extraordinarily well briefed about the way her subjects live in every part of the United Kingdom and that never failed to surprise with the sheer depth of understanding and knowledge that she had. They were very useful meetings for Prime Ministers and any Prime Minister who chose not to listen to the Queen would be a very foolish person indeed.

    INTERVIEWER

    Did she put you on your mettle Sir John?

    SIR JOHN MAJOR

    There was nothing confrontational, no, truly they were very friendly meetings. They were formal in the sense that one has to be formal with the Monarch, of course they were. But once you began talking it was in no sense controversial. It was a discussion about events and an extremely well briefed and worthwhile discussion. Everyone felt at ease very soon after they began entering into those weekly discussions.

    INTERVIEWER

    Where do you think it leaves this country Sir John? Everybody will have a sense of loss or something shifting if they don’t have a particularly close regard for the institution of the monarchy. Everyone will know this is a moment where something has moved, has shifted, a moment of history. Where do you think this leaves the country tonight Sir John?

    SIR JOHN MAJOR

    This is a moment that children who don’t realise its significance will remember when they’re very elderly people, it is a remarkable moment in history. We’ve never had a monarch serve so long and now we have lost that monarch and we move on to King Charles III. So it leaves this country wondering, because of the political difficulties the country faces as well, because they are part of the loss of the Queen. We face very many difficulties over the next few years and it will be an extraordinarily difficult job for the Government, for ministers and of course for the monarch as well to navigate a way through all of those difficulties.

    What is very much in our favour is that King Charles III has known of his responsibilities and his duties all his life and has been very well prepared for them. I think there is undoubtedly going to be a huge feeling of loss, the Queen will leave a very big hole in our lives because of the permanent presence that she has been. But I think she will be satisfied that she has left a legacy of a new King who will understand the problems and behind that King, a son and a grandson who can follow on and keep the monarchy secure. We have always moved on from one Monarchy to the next, it’s a painful transition, particularly after such a lengthy successful Monarchy with a Queen, who astonishingly over 70 years has retained a popularity that no other public figure could possibly match. It is an extraordinary legacy she leaves and I think King Charles will build on that legacy in the years ahead.

    INTERVIEWER

    And just in conclusion, what’s your personal fondest memory tonight Sir John?

    SIR JOHN MAJOR

    There are so many memories and there are so many that I’m afraid I can’t tell you. But I can tell you that the informality and sheer friendliness that is shown by the Queen in private moments is quite extraordinary. I remember the barbecues at her home when one was there, I remember the kindness with which if you dined at Windsor matters related to your own constituency or your own lives would be on display there in order to make you feel at ease. I remember the Queen when we were staying at Balmoral crawling on the floor looking at a piece of the floor that had shattered and then refusing to let anyone help with washing up at the end of a barbecue. These are memories that when one looks at the majesty of royalty you really don’t expect and they make a very profound impression when you see them and a memory that is imperishable.

    INTERVIEWER

    Indeed Sir John and thank you very much for sharing those memories with us this evening and giving us your time on this very sad day. Thank you very much indeed.

    SIR JOHN MAJOR

    Thank you so much.

  • Sir John Major’s Interview on CBS Evening News Following the Death of HM Queen Elizabeth II – 8 September 2022

    Sir John Major’s interview with Norah O’Donnell, broadcast on CBS Evening News on 8 September 2022.

    INTERVIEWER’S INTRODUCTION

    Sir John Major was one of the first to pay tribute to the Queen today, saying that in her public duty she was selfless and wise with a wonderful generosity of spirit. That is how she lived and how she led. The former Prime Minister told us those traits were especially apparent during difficult times.

    SIR JOHN MAJOR

    One of the many gifts the Queen has is that when she faces great difficulty, she has the capacity to be a stoic. She puts her head down, she ploughs on and she knows whatever the problems are she will come through the other end of that.

    INTERVIEWER

    Where did she get that resilience?

    SIR JOHN MAJOR

    I think it is part of the training for Monarchy. Self evidently you need to be very selfless, you need to have a great understanding of the way your nation works and the way people think and act in order to be a successful Monarchy. You need a great capacity to discharge your obligations and your duty. The Queen had a remarkable sense of duty all her life. As a young lady she pledged in a radio broadcast she made from South Africa when she was very young to pledge the whole of her life to the service of our nation.

    INTERVIEWER

    You describe her as a stoic, certainly publicly, but personally, was she emotional? Was she warm? Was she funny?

    SIR JOHN MAJOR

    Oh, gosh, she was very funny, yes. The conversations with her weren’t starchy, dull or boring. They were very lively, you were talking to someone with a lively intellect. No, no, she was fun to be with.

    INTERVIEWER

    And what do you think was the essence of her leadership style?

    SIR JOHN MAJOR

    The great thing the Queen left our country with was her example. It is difficult to find a public figure so dedicated to her duty and her responsibilities and her obligations as the Queen has been from her early 20s when she became Monarch to the age of 96. That will pass on to our new King and will pass on to our new Prince of Wales as well.

  • Sir John Major’s Interview on Sky News Following the Death of HM Queen Elizabeth II – 8 September 2022

    Sir John Major’s interview with Dermot Murnaghan, broadcast on Sky News on 8 September 2022.

    INTERVIEWER

    I’m joined now by the former Prime Minister Sir John Major, who was of course, if I’m correct, Her Majesty the Queen’s ninth Prime Minister. Sir John, your reflections on this day?

    SIR JOHN MAJOR

    I think it’s a very sad day. We all realised that one day it would come and we all hoped that it would be far distant rather than near to us. So I think it is an extremely sad day and I think there will be many tears shed at the loss of Her Majesty.

    INTERVIEWER

    We know you can’t share with us what passed between you in terms of the conversations, the regular conversations, you had with Her Majesty in those meetings as Prime Minister, but we’ve been told it was her depth of knowledge and her empathy and her understanding that partly marked her out.

    SIR JOHN MAJOR

    Well, it certainly did. But not only that, there was a great deal of wisdom and knowledge as well. There were several things that were very striking when you first entered into those meetings with Her Majesty. Firstly, they were very informal, the only two people in the room were Her Majesty the Queen and yourself, and a supporting galaxy of corgis who usually happened to be there, but absolutely no one else and it was remarkably informal. One sat there and we talked and there was nothing off the agenda.

    Everything was there that might be raised either by Her Majesty or by the Prime Minister. One reported what was going on, what was anticipated to happen in the future, what your thoughts were about what was happening and how you felt you were going to handle it. The Queen would ask questions, she would comment and she would refer to occasions in the past where she had seen similar events. That was extraordinarily useful, her historic memory for what had happened under past Prime Ministers was extraordinary and a far longer historic memory than your civil service advisers. So that was often extremely helpful.

    When it came to foreign affairs, there was almost no part of the world the Queen hadn’t visited. In many cases she would remember not just the meeting she might have had with the current heads of government, but in many countries their forebears had also been heads of government and the Queen had known them as well.

    So there was a great wealth of knowledge that was waiting to be tapped and it just emerged during the conversations. They were extraordinarily useful. Of the many meetings you had in the week as Prime Minister, the hour plus that you usually spent with the Queen was among the most valuable.

    INTERVIEWER

    Sir John, was that quite daunting? One can imagine the initial phases perhaps of your Premiership, with that depth of knowledge even just in our own country when she could quote meetings with titans like Churchill, Macmillan and on the Presidential side, the Eisenhowers, the Kennedys.

    SIR JOHN MAJOR

    It could easily have been made daunting, but it wasn’t because of the manner in which the Queen approached it. It was very informal, it was very friendly, it wasn’t confrontational, it became very comfortable. Of course, you were always conscious you were speaking to the Monarch and a certain degree of total respect was due, but the meetings themselves were entirely informal. It might have been as though one was sitting at a table with you discussing current political events in a casual and relaxed fashion. Of course one discussed not only the politics of things, not only the government aspect, but the Queen would always have been interested in talking about what its impact was going to be on people in her nation. How would things impact upon someone who lived in Wigan, or Sale or wherever it may be, anywhere across the United Kingdom? The personal aspect, the personal impact of policy upon people was always something that was in her mind and that was amazingly refreshing. At first you were quite astonished at the extent and depth of understanding that the Monarch had about the lives that perfectly everyday people lived.

    INTERVIEWER

    And they were turbulent times 30 years ago. Let’s talk about the nation, on the political side, of course we had our economic troubles, perhaps some parallels with where we are now in 2022. And of course, let’s not forget there was a violent conflict taking place within the United Kingdom, that peace process that you started to negotiate, and Her Majesty the Queen, a kind of symbol of stability amongst all that.

    SIR JOHN MAJOR

    Her Majesty was a unifier. She was extraordinarily interested in the peace process and how the peace process was developing and how far we thought it would go and who we could bring in to help. Who were the people who were actually standing in the way, what were the problems that existed? How did we think we could overcome it? Did we think a solution was possible? How long would it take? All those were the sort of matters that we would have discussed, but her interest in ending the divisions, indeed the hatreds and the problems that existed in Northern Ireland, her interest in seeing that solved was remarkable.

    One of the regrets I think I have in my public life was that we weren’t able to finish that, it was very ably finished by my successor, Tony Blair and his advisers afterwards, and I warmly commend them for having done that and brought about the final agreement. I think if I have a regret, it’s that I didn’t finish it and if I had a second regret, it would be that when the Queen made her remarkable visit to Ireland a few years afterwards, that I was out of government and no longer there, but her interest in that was total.

    INTERVIEWER

    Just while we’re on that Sir John, you mentioned that visit to Northern Ireland, that remarkable scene, the symbol of forgiveness when she shook Martin McGuinness’s hand, the former head of the IRA, the IRA that murdered Dickie Mountbatten.

    SIR JOHN MAJOR

    It was a remarkable moment of stateswomanship and it took a remarkable woman to do it, but it was necessary, she knew it would help and she was prepared to do it. I have absolutely no doubt that she was entirely happy to make that visit and to make the gestures that were necessary to seal the work that was coming towards fruition. And it was very valuable. She was, as I said, a unifier. That was her natural instinct, her instinct was not to create division but to bring people together. And whether that was bringing people together within Northern Ireland, or bringing the component parts of the United Kingdom together when they had disputes, her principle was the same, unity is far better than division.

    INTERVIEWER

    Sir John, then those difficult years for the Monarchy itself, from the Annus horribilis we are referring to in her Christmas address, the destruction of Windsor Castle, the separation and divorce of Charles and Diana and then ultimately, the sad passing of the Princess of Wales, such difficult times.

    SIR JOHN MAJOR

    They were very difficult times in the 90s, the Annus horribilis and the fire at Windsor in 1992 I remember very plainly indeed. The Queen in times of difficulties is stoic, she doesn’t panic, she doesn’t go into her shell. She puts her head down, she realises there are difficult things you have to live through. You put your head down, you plough ahead and eventually you will come out the other side. It’s a great gift that stoicism and it is a gift that she learned and she understands that you will come out of it. Horrible things have happened to people before and they do survive them. They do come out the other side and that was something she fully understood. Whatever happened, the daffodils will come up next spring and so let us get on with life. It was a very profound way to approach many of these problems.

    INTERVIEWER

    What a great way to end our conversation. What a memory to take with us. Sir John, thank you so much for sharing that with us.

    SIR JOHN MAJOR

    It was a very great pleasure.

  • Sir John Major’s Interview on BBC News Following the Death of HM Queen Elizabeth II – 8 September 2022

    Sir John Major’s interview with BBC News on 8 September 2022.

    INTERVIEWER

    We’re now joined by the former Conservative Prime Minister, Sir John Major. It’s very good of you to join us here on BBC News at this moment in time. Fears of course had been mounting throughout the day on the news from the Queen’s medical team at Balmoral, what are your thoughts now on the passing of Her Majesty?

    SIR JOHN MAJOR

    Well, it is heartbreaking news. It’s news that one day we knew we would have, but we always hoped it would be delayed and would be some way away. It’s very hard to take it in, that radiant smile which lights up a room and lights up a country is just not going to be there for us anymore, very hard to imagine. Most of the people in this country can remember nothing other than the Queen as Monarch. Many of those who are elderly remember, faintly, the former King, but this is an enormous change for this country. It’s a very big moment in history, a key pivotal moment and I think there will be many tears shed tonight and over the next few days for Her Majesty the Queen.

    INTERVIEWER

    I wondered, Sir John, given your interactions with the Queen, obviously as Prime Minister, what your personal recollections are of meeting her?

    SIR JOHN MAJOR

    There are so many recollections and in many ways so different from what people might imagine the private meetings that the Prime Minister has with a Queen, which perhaps scheduled for 45 minutes in my experience never lasted remotely under an hour and often some way beyond it. They weren’t entirely serious matters just discussing the matters of the nation, there was a great deal of amusement in them, there was a great deal of humour and then there was a bit of gossip in there.

    Apart from that, the serious matters that were discussed, I think people would have been extraordinarily surprised if they realised the depth of information the Queen had about the lives of people in every conceivable part of the United Kingdom. She was always extraordinarily well briefed, and on foreign affairs of course, she would often say if there was a difficulty of a foreign leader, ‘well, I met him many years ago’ or even ‘I knew his father’, there was always a wise word to be had. Those meetings with the Queen are one of the better parts of a Prime Minister’s week.

    INTERVIEWER

    I mean that stability, that continuity that she brought, not just to the monarchy I suppose, but to all of our lives on being on the throne over such a long period. What are your thoughts on that now that she’s passed?

    SIR JOHN MAJOR

    The continuity was very important, but I think there were other things as well, the example, the duty, the selflessness, the way in which other people were put first, the way in which she handled crises with great stoicism when they occurred, as they occurred a number of times during her reign. They were all examples to people about how to behave in their own lives and examples for our country. What I found going around the world is that the Queen was the face of the United Kingdom. When people around the world spoke of the Queen they actually meant our queen. That was the status she had in every part of the world, it was truly remarkable.

    INTERVIEWER

    Sir John, you talked about the stoicism she showed in times of crisis. We think back of course to 1992 and her Annus horribilis speech, the fire at Windsor Castle as well. Her fortitude in dealing with those issues and those problems was something that the British people came to admire greatly in her, along with that sense of duty.

    SIR JOHN MAJOR

    I think they were right to admire it. I sat one along from her when she made the Annus horribilis speech in 1992. A great deal had gone wrong and there was, as you say, that dreadful fire in Windsor Castle which many people didn’t receive with the sympathy perhaps they should have done. But the Queen understood that, she put her head down and she quietly, silently, uncomplainingly got on with her job. There are very few people who would have handled it with the aplomb that she did. I think that was in part because of her experience and in part because of her natural nature. She knew what one had to do to be a Monarch, she knew when to keep out of controversy, she knew when to advise in private, she was almost faultless in the way in which she conducted the monarchy. She leaves behind the monarchy in very good shape and a son who’s been brought up to follow in precisely the same footsteps, King Charles III.

    INTERVIEWER

    I wondered too Sir John about the affection with which she was held right around the world, particularly within the Commonwealth. You’ve travelled and you’ve seen the great affection that she had and there will be millions across the globe now who will be particularly sad today?

    SIR JOHN MAJOR

    I have seen that affection in close quarters. Twelve years ago I was invited by the Queen to set up and chair the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee trust, a charity to commemorate her 60 years on the throne. We raised money from across the Commonwealth and I asked the Queen what she wished us to do with the money that we had raised in her name. She gave us two tasks, the first was to cure avoidable blindness across the whole of the Commonwealth, and the second was to seek out young Commonwealth leaders in every nation of the Commonwealth, 54 countries at the time, and help prepare them for leadership roles in later life. It was entirely a selfless request on her behalf, and entirely typical of her.

    INTERVIEWER

    Remarkable. Sir John Major, thank you very much indeed for giving us your reflections on Queen Elizabeth II who passed away today. Thank you so much.

  • Sir John Major’s Statement Following the Death of HM Queen Elizabeth II – 8 September 2022

    The statement made by Sir John Major on 8 September 2022, following the death of HM Queen Elizabeth II.

    For 70 years Her Majesty The Queen devoted her life to the service of our nation and its wellbeing.

    In her public duties she was selfless and wise, with a wonderful generosity of spirit. That is how she lived – and how she led.

    For millions of people – across the Commonwealth and the wider world – she embodied the heart and soul of our nation, and was admired and respected around the globe.

    At this moment of deep sadness, I believe we all stand hand in hand with the Royal Family as they grieve the loss of one so loved.

    For we have all lost someone very precious to us and, as we mourn, we should be grateful that we were blessed with such an example of duty and leadership for so very many years.

  • Sir John Major’s Interview on BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme about the Platinum Jubilee – 3 June 2022

    The interview between presenter Nick Robinson and Sir John Major, broadcast on BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme on 3 June 2022.

    NICK ROBINSON

    What do you think the public value most from their Monarch?

    SIR JOHN MAJOR

    I think there are lots of things to celebrate and there are lots of answers to that particular question. I think probably the Queen’s service to the nation, that has been impeccable. The dignity and grace with which she has carried out her work over such a extraordinarily long period. I think they are two absolutely key objectives, although you could mention many others, her sheer decency and the way in which she has represented the instincts of the British nation for such a long period.

    NICK ROBINSON

    This has been such a long reign, we have many moments remembering where we were, were you there at the time of the Silver Jubilee? Do you even remember as a boy of the Coronation?

    SIR JOHN MAJOR

    I remember the Coronation better, I was ten at the time. From heaven knows where, my mother and father had scratched together enough money to buy an old 12 inch flickering black and white television and our neighbours crowded in to watch the Coronation. My job throughout the day was to make a constant supply of tea and bring it in and out, bring in the tea, take out the cups, bring in the cakes, take out the plates, but it was still a very memorable occasion.

    I remember particularly that at the end of that day, my father who was then 75 made a brief speech. I can’t remember precisely what he said, but the text was this, ‘the grey days have gone, we’ve now got a splendid young Queen, better days are coming’. I remember him saying that and everyone dutifully clapped and I could see my mother crying in the corner. Of course, the better days did come.

    NICK ROBINSON

    If someone in that room on that day, if someone had said she would still be on the throne seventy years later, few of you would have believed it. Now when you look back, do you have a sense of how she managed to stay popular and relevant during that time?

    SIR JOHN MAJOR

    It is extraordinary isn’t it? I cannot think of any other public figure, any other celebrity, and other president, if we had a political president, who could possibly have remained so popular and after seventy years the country would be celebrating that they had been there for seventy years. It is quite unique. I think there are a number of reasons for it, the Monarchy has evolved and it is immeasurably different from the Monarchy of 1952, much more open and much more informal. For those seventy years, the Queen has effectively been the ship of state as we’ve moved through all the things that have happened.

    Also of course, she’s very familiar to everyone as her life has been played out in public. The highs, the lows, the good bits, the not so good bits, but yet through it all the Queen has represented our better selves for over seventy years. Those are some of the reasons for her popularity, but there are more of course, but I think that is fundamental.

    NICK ROBINSON

    I want to come in a second to the almost unique relationship you had with her as a Prime Minister, seeing her in private. You talk of that popularity, but there were difficult days, you were Prime Minister during the time of what she referred to herself as her Annus horribilis back in 1992, during her 40th anniversary. The separation of Charles and Diana, various Royal tabloid scandals, Princess Anne’s divorce, the awful fire at Windsor Castle. What in her character do you think enabled her to get through those times?

    SIR JOHN MAJOR

    She is amongst other things a stoic and I think at the difficult times her instinct was to put her head down and keep going, ‘and this too shall pass’ I think was her motto. Whatever happens, the daffodils will be there next spring. I think that capacity to put things in a box, to realise that they pass and they’re not eternal and things will improve and change. Whether it’s an instinctive part of her natural nature or whether it’s something she learned, I really can’t possibly know. But I think that is the way that she has managed to maintain grace and dignity under pressure, for there has been pressure. You cannot be in public life as much as she has, for as long as she has been, without facing pressures of all sorts of unexpected kinds.

    NICK ROBINSON

    This year was extraordinarily difficult for her, not just because of the loss of her beloved husband, but the trials of Prince Andrew, the dispute that was clearly going on in the family about the role of Prince Harry and Meghan. Again though, somehow she seems to have got through all that?

    SIR JOHN MAJOR

    It has been a trying time in many ways, but I think she draws a great deal of strength from the support that she gets across the country. If you go back to the Diamond Jubilee, which in a sense we’re repeating with the Platinum Jubilee, I remember people hanging out of the windows as her boat went down the Thames, even in pouring rain, standing in their thousands at the side, simply to show their support, and I think their affection for the Queen as well. I think that’s immensely helpful.

    NICK ROBINSON

    Are you confident that now this really will be the celebration that she has hoped for that would bring everyone together, regardless of class, or gender or race or ethnicity, or is this a party for some and only for some?

    SIR JOHN MAJOR

    By everyone, if you mean everyone of the 70 million, obviously not, but if you mean the vast overwhelming majority of the British nation, I think the answer is that they will come together. There will be some who are Republican, there will be some for their own reasons feel differently, but in terms of the vast overwhelming weight of public opinion and public instinct, I think it will bring people together at what is a very difficult time. I think that bit of unification comes at a hopeful and worthwhile time for our country.

    NICK ROBINSON

    You mentioned about the role that she played. What do we not see that you as the country’s elected leader saw in terms of how she was helping? If not you as a politician, but you as the leader of UK PLC?

    SIR JOHN MAJOR

    The Queen is a hidden asset, she’s part of our soft power. You only have to see that whenever you see her with Presidents or Prime Ministers of other countries. You saw it recently at the G7, you saw it in spades at the Commonwealth conference where leaders, whether long-serving, experienced or powerful leaders in their own country, are a little in awe of a Queen who has become iconic with her number of years on the throne. They’re keen to meet her, they’re keen to shake hands with her and keen to be photographed with her. You see the worldwide reach of the Monarchy. When people in almost every part of the world speak of the Queen, they mean our Queen.

    NICK ROBINSON

    Did you find her more than just a good listener? Was she a good adviser too, was that a valuable part of your week rather than just a duty?

    SIR JOHN MAJOR

    It wasn’t a duty, it was something to be looked forward to, in many ways it was cathartic. You could discuss things with the Queen that you couldn’t really discuss with hardly anybody else. Politics, even amongst the closest of colleagues, tends how best can we put this Nick, can be a little leaky. One thing about the meetings with the Queen is that no-one is there, just the corgis, behaving or not, as the case may be, and you could speak in absolute privacy. There is no Private Secretary there, no notes were made, you could say exactly what you wish, exactly what is on your mind and so can the Queen. That is very valuable.

    You ask if she’s a good listener. Yes she is, but I think more relevantly, she’s a good questioner. Gently, she asks the right questions and I think people would be surprised at the depth of knowledge she has of how people who are not close to the Monarchy actually live in their own lives. She knows a great deal about it and her questions are very pertinent and it was always extremely useful because it was a completely external view from someone who knew politics, who had been looking at state papers for 28 years at the time I became Prime Minister. There is no-one in the world who has ever seen as many state papers over such a long period as the Queen and of course she has learned a great deal from that. I often came away from those meetings thinking to myself what a shame she isn’t in the Cabinet. I have to say though, I’m not sure that she shared that view.

    NICK ROBINSON

    I’m not sure that she would have accepted the promotion!

    SIR JOHN MAJOR

    I think not sharing her view is another example of her wisdom.

    NICK ROBINSON

    Thank you for sharing your memories of, and your tributes to, the Queen.

  • Sir John Major’s Comments on the Diamond Jubilee Weekend (II) – 5 June 2012

    The text of Sir John Major’s comments on the Diamond Jubilee Weekend, broadcast live on the afternoon of 5th June 2012 on BBC1, with presenter Huw Edwards.

    HUW EDWARDS:

    I’m going to introduce my next guest, but we’re not going to see him yet. When he starts speaking you’ll know exactly who it is.

    SIR JOHN MAJOR:

    Well Huw it’s a delight to be here.

    HUW EDWARDS:

    Sir John Major, good to see you, thank you very much. We were hearing from David Cameron just a short while ago.

    Good to have you with us, first of all, the day, what did you make of today?

    SIR JOHN MAJOR:

    Quite extraordinary, but then again it’s been an extraordinary two or three days, the whole country has been in the middle of a great party and people have come out in a way that I think very few people actually imagined. I’ve been around a very long time, I don’t think I’ve seen anything quite like this before.

    HUW EDWARDS:

    Why has it happened?

    SIR JOHN MAJOR:

    I think it’s a culmination of things. We live in a pretty cynical world sadly these days, and I think people have seen someone who has for 60 years has been the best example of selfless service that I think you can possibly imagine. And in some fashion that has now communicated itself to people and this opportunity has been a great opportunity for people to show what they think of the Monarchy and what they think of this particular Monarch.

    HUW EDWARDS:

    This is an amazing scene isn’t it?

    SIR JOHN MAJOR:

    It certainly is.

    I can’t imagine hardly anyone else in the world who could draw crowds like this, here, we’re just looking up The Mall, but I’ve just driven from South London, it’s the same along much of the route, huge numbers of people just crowding in the streets holding flags, from the very elderly to little children barely able to toddle. It’s a very memorable sight.

    HUW EDWARDS:

    Lots of people Sir John today talking about 2002, and indeed, thinking back to 1977. What were you doing back in 1977 for the Silver Jubilee, do you remember?

    SIR JOHN MAJOR:

    I do remember, I was standing in the streets, like everybody else. I remember it very well indeed. Indeed, I remember the Coronation, which was another a great celebration of the time, it lifted the gloom of the post-war years in a truly remarkable fashion.

    HUW EDWARDS:

    You have a particular interest over and above the usual interest in today’s events because you are Chairman of the Diamond Jubilee Trust. What does that involve?

    SIR JOHN MAJOR:
    The trust has been set up at the request of all the Commonwealth Prime Ministers and Heads of Governments, all 54 countries, and they’ve set up the trust to raise money to set up legacy projects to honour the Queen’s long reign.

    The Queen has said ‘please don’t make presentations to me’, if you wish to make a tribute, then donate your tribute to the Diamond Jubilee Trust, and we’re going to raise as much money as we can in this country and right across every country of the Commonwealth. From Governments, local Governments, individuals, people can donate via our web-site, and when we’ve raised as much as we possibly can in one year only, we’re then going to utilise it in a relatively small number of big projects to help people in need right across the Commonwealth.

    HUW EDWARDS:

    How will you decide how to spend that money?

    SIR JOHN MAJOR:

    It will be an objective decision. But the sort of thing we have in mind, not final decisions, but the sort of thing we have in mind, why not Queen Elizabeth scholarships for the disabled? There are scholarship schemes all around the world, but I know of no scholarship scheme for the disabled. That would be a wonderful, permanent tribute.

    We’re looking at how we can restore sight to many people who are blind, they have cataracts, they have river blindness, their sight can be restored.

    We’re looking at schemes in cities, where people are short of nutrition and good food, to set up urban gardens, even in tower blocks and flats you can set up urban gardens to grow food, and that’s the sort of project we’ll be looking at, and we’ll be working with really great charities, like The Eden Project, Sightsavers, International Development Through Sport. We thought we could use sport, particularly for the young. The concept of teams rather than gangs, all across the Commonwealth that’s necessary.

    So it’s a huge range of ideas, first we have to raise the money, and once we have the money, as much as we can get and I set no target, as much as we can get, then we can disperse it on schemes in honour of the Queen, that will be badged as it were, to show that it’s in honour of the Queen and that will make a real difference to the lives of people who have much less than most of us.

    HUW EDWARDS:

    Sir John, as ever, great to talk to you. Enjoy the rest of the day.

    SIR JOHN MAJOR:

    I’m sure I will, thank you.

  • Sir John Major’s Comments on the Diamond Jubilee Weekend (I) – 5 June 2012

    The text of Sir John Major’s comments on the Diamond Jubilee Weekend, broadcast live on the morning of 5th June 2012 on ITV, with hosts Phillip Schofield and Julie Etchingham.

    PHILLIP SCHOFIELD:

    One person who will be making his way to St. Paul’s very shortly is Sir John Major. He was of course one of her Prime Ministers and also patron of the Diamond Jubilee Trust and he has been very busy throughout the weekend but has kindly found time to join us here.

    SIR JOHN MAJOR:

    Pleasure, good morning.

    PHILLIP SCHOFIELD:

    Let’s start with the Duke, and you saw that gentleman there in the Mall giving the Duke his best wishes, as much as everybody does at this moment.

    SIR JOHN MAJOR:

    I think that everyone is worried about how the Duke is, but he’s pretty strong and he’s pretty tough. I’ll tell you what was fantastically moving last night, when the crowd here at the concert started chanting Philip – ‘Phil-ip, Phil-ip’, it was just magical and you could see that the Queen was very moved by that. But he’s a strong man, yesterday morning he was out riding, so he’s tough and I’m pretty confident he’ll be fine.

    JULIE ETCHINGHAM:

    You’ve been at the heart of all of this planning for this amazing event, patron of the Diamond Jubilee Trust, what have you made of what you’ve seen so far over this weekend?

    SIR JOHN MAJOR:

    It’s been an absolutely magnificent national party, and I think it’s quite extraordinary, last night in The Mall was just an unforgettable sight. Tens and tens of thousands of people there. And all over the country there have been village parties, and perhaps in the cities meeting their neighbours whom they’ve never met before. The Queen will be very pleased about that. So I think it’s just been a magnificent national party.

    JULIE ETCHINGHAM:

    It’s not just a national thing is it, the Queen herself has been extraordinarily keen to make sure that the Commonwealth is embraced in all of this. You, above all people, who have worked so closely with her know just how much the Commonwealth means to her.

    SIR JOHN MAJOR:

    A great deal. When the Queen became Queen there were 8 members of the Commonwealth, there are now 54. Wherever you go in the world, I travel a good deal of my time around the world, and the Queen these days is iconic, wherever you go, people know about the Queen, they’re fascinated about the Queen, they’ll talk about the Queen, if they talk of the Queen, they mean about our Queen, so it’s quite extraordinary.
    That’s right the way across the Commonwealth, but actually beyond that as well. You see this fascination with the Royal Family, you saw it with Prince William’s wedding, you’ve seen it on other occasions, there’s an absolute fascination with the British Monarchy.

    PHILLIP SCHOFIELD:

    What happens to the Commonwealth then? Looking well, well into the future, is this something she holds together as the glue?

    SIR JOHN MAJOR:

    Her father, King George VI, was instrumental in beginning the Commonwealth when it had just a handful of members, it has grown up with the Queen. It’s now deeply rooted, there are intangible roots, it’s almost like the British constitution, it isn’t written but you know what it is, and you know what it means.

    PHILLIP SCHOFIELD:

    What does it do?

    SIR JOHN MAJOR:

    It does a great deal. In terms of the relationship, it’s helpful for trade, it’s helpful for personal relationships, you see it on the sporting field. Diplomatically it can be extremely useful, and often is. So although it’s intangible, you can’t write down the Commonwealth does this, the Commonwealth does that, it’s a very powerful invisible force.

    JULIE ETCHINGHAM:

    Of course Sir John, you were one of the Queen’s 12 Prime Ministers.

    SIR JOHN MAJOR:

    There are lots of us, only one of her.

    JULIE ETCHINGHAM:

    Which she has reflected on of course with a glint in her eye on occasions, but you of course would have had those weekly audiences and you were Prime Minister at one of the most difficult periods of the Queen’s reign for her, and her ‘Annus Horribilis’. What are your reflections and memories of those weekly audiences?

    SIR JOHN MAJOR:

    Well I think one has a great many memories of them but I think what people would be most surprised about is how informal they are, you sit down exactly as we’re talking now, just two people, surrounded more often than not by half a dozen corgis or more, they’re usually present.
    But usually almost everything, everything, is up for discussion, it’s entirely free and frank and relaxed. And I think were people to listen in they’d be quite surprised both at the breadth of the conversation; and equally, they ought not to be, it’s very much a two-way conversation.
    The Queen has been Queen, as we know, for 60 years, she’s been having these meetings since Churchill, there’s not much she hasn’t seen before, there isn’t much she doesn’t know, there’s not much that her advice isn’t very well worth listening to.

    PHILLIP SCHOFIELD:

    A lot of people who have met the Queen have commented how remarkable it is how much she takes in, she may appear like she’s looking regally over something but in actual fact she’s taken note of every single point. When it came to those meetings with her, she’s very astute, she’s remembered a lot.

    SIR JOHN MAJOR:

    She’s remembered a lot, she’s also extremely well briefed. Don’t forget the Queen sees State Papers, they’re not just restricted to Ministers, the Queen sees them as well. So there’s nothing that happens in front of house as it were, or behind the scenes, that the Queen isn’t aware of.

    PHILLIP SCHOFIELD:

    What about your time in Balmoral, how different is that to the office [Buckingham Palace] behind you?

    SIR JOHN MAJOR:

    I remember being at Balmoral on one occasion, there was a crisis, there usually was I remember, I was on the phone to a foreign Prime Minister, it was the Italian Prime Minister and after a while he said, “what on earth is wrong with this line, I can’t hear a thing?”. It was the bagpipes, I had been there a few days and utterly forgotten that they were being played, but they were. I’d shut them out, but he couldn’t. A very difficult conversation with him.

    JULIE ETCHINGHAM:

    How do you think that the Queen has moved the Monarchy on? Just to reflect on that difficult period in 1992, when she was very honest and open about it publicly, about having to acknowledge a difficult year, how did she reshape the Monarchy? Was it a subtle, incremental thing?

    SIR JOHN MAJOR:

    I think that’s a very good description, it was subtle and incremental.

    I mean the Monarchy is both a part of our nation and slightly apart from our nation, and that is the way our nation likes it. And the Queen has seen it change, it has evolved, it’s a much more sympathetic Monarchy than I think it was in days gone past. Slightly less regal in some respects, much more human, much more in touch.

    You’ve seen the extent over the last few days to which the Queen is happy in crowds, whether it’s at the Derby where perhaps she’s as happy as anywhere, and on other occasions. And I think that’s partly what has brought nation and Monarchy so close together at the moment.

    PHILLIP SCHOFIELD:

    Is that change led by her?

    SIR JOHN MAJOR:

    Certainly that’s led by her, but I think you only have to look at younger members of the Royal Family to see it’s not restricted to her. I don’t know how many mentions there were, for example, last night of Prince Harry, but quite a lot, and he, Prince William and Prince Charles, and Prince Charles’s speech last night was very moving indeed and I thought his programme the other day produced some wonderful films, some spectacular moments.

    So I think that the nation and Monarchy have got to know one another even better over the last 72 hours.

    PHILLIP SCHOFIELD:

    She’s the widest travelled Monarch ever, she’s travelled around the world, circumnavigated, indeed the first Monarch to do that. But the one country that was closest to her is the one that’s closest to us, and that trip to Ireland was really a very important moment between the two countries.

    SIR JOHN MAJOR:

    It was remarkable, absolutely remarkable. All the way through the Irish troubles, there was this curious mixture of people who wanted to kill and murder, and the innate friendliness of the Irish. It was always a curious conundrum that those two things could run almost in parallel and when the peace process began in the early 1990s and many people doubted that we would actually get to where we are.

    JULIE ETCHINGHAM:

    We have some images now, remarkable, even the choice of colours, the outfits she wore, everything resonated.

    SIR JOHN MAJOR:

    I don’t suppose that I was the only one with tears in my eyes when I saw those images.

    JULIE ETCHINGHAM:

    It was that emotional for you, you were so deeply involved in that process?

    SIR JOHN MAJOR:

    Well, lots of people were, yes I was, but so were lots of other people, no one person or handful of people brought that about, it was a huge number of people, including many unsung and completely unknown. But the final confirmation that things were so different was the Queen’s hugely successful visit to Ireland, about which she felt very strongly.

    Many people might have been cautious about going, I think it’s to the credit of the Prime Minister that he said straight away “go” and that even if he hadn’t, she’d have probably of pushed pretty hard to do. And it was fantastically successful. And things have changed for good now.

    PHILLIP SCHOFIELD:

    Thank you and I’m very conscious we’ve got to get you to the Service.

    SIR JOHN MAJOR:

    It would not be well received if I was late.

    PHILLIP SCHOFIELD:

    No, so in which case, thank you very much indeed.

    SIR JOHN MAJOR:

    Thank you both.