The Queen has emphasised the importance of European unity in a speech in Germany, as U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron tries to negotiate extra concessions in an effort to prevent the country leaving the European Union.
“We must work hard to maintain the benefits of the post-war world,” Queen Elizabeth II told a state banquet in Berlin, as part of a state visit to Germany.
“We know that division in Europe is dangerous and that we must guard against it in the west as well as in the east of our continent.”
The comments have been interpreted as pro-European Union membership, just as the U.K.’s commitment to the single market appears to be wavering.
The Queen’s statement, made at a dinner attended by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Cameron, is particularly interesting because she has been extremely discreet about her beliefs in the past. The U.K.’s monarchy usually stays out of politics.
The Queen, herself of German ancestry and married to a man who was born a Prince of Greece, served in the Second World War as a mechanic and driver. She said that she had “seen the worst” of her continent – a reference to the conflict.
