LONDON: Queen Elizabeth II has emphasised the need for Britons to come together to “seek out the common ground,” in what is being viewed as an appeal to overcome bitter divisions over Brexit.
Government ministers quickly interpreted the comments — a rare foray for the 92-year-old monarch into the political sphere — as broadly supportive of their desperate search for a compromise over Brexit.
With Britain in limbo just two months before the scheduled withdrawal from the EU on March 29, some lawmakers have been calling for the queen to intervene more forcefully and seek to reassure Britons who are worried about the future.
The queen appeared to do so obliquely in an address late on Thursday to members of the Women’s Institute (WI) near her Sandringham estate in eastern England — an association that she joined while still a princess in 1943.
“Of course, every generation faces fresh challenges and opportunities,” she said.
“As we look for new answers in the modern age, I for one prefer the tried and tested recipes, like speaking well of each other and respecting different points of view; coming together to seek out the common ground; and never losing sight of the bigger picture.
“To me, these approaches are timeless, and I commend them to everyone,” she said.
Her message comes amid intense argument in parliament about how to proceed on Brexit or whether to leave the EU at all.
“I think there is huge wisdom in those words,” finance minister Philip Hammond told BBC radio.
“It’s been our enormous strength over centuries that we have been able to find compromises that bring the nation together,” he said.
The royals tend to steer well clear of politics and, as head of state, the queen in particular is careful to stay neutral in public.
Some Conservative MPs have suggested the queen can block any legislation seeking to delay or impede Brexit.
That would prove hugely controversial in a country where the monarchy holds sweeping powers in theory but has only rarely if ever implemented them in modern times.
During the referendum campaign in 2016, there was public uproar over a front-page headline in The Sun newspaper saying: “Queen Backs Brexit.”
Citing an anonymous source, the best-selling tabloid reported that the queen told the then deputy prime minister Nick Clegg, a fervent pro-European, during a lunch in 2011 that the EU was “heading in the wrong direction.”
The paper also claimed she had told lawmakers “with quite some venom and emotion” that “she did not understand Europe.”
The article sparked a rare complaint from Buckingham Palace and Britain’s press regulator late ruled that the headline was “significantly misleading.”
An article in The Daily Beast before the referendum also said she had asked dinner companions to give her “three good reasons” why Britain should stay in the EU.
Queen Elizabeth’s grandson Prince William, who is second in line to the throne, made waves of his own during the referendum campaign.
In a speech to British diplomats, he said Britain’s ability to work with other nations was the “bedrock of our security and prosperity.”
The remarks prompted speculation that he was endorsing Britain’s continued membership of the EU.
His brother Prince Harry might not quite agree, at least according to his father-in-law.
Speaking after Harry’s fairytale wedding to former TV actress Meghan Markle last year, her father Thomas Markle told ITV television that the prince had told him he was “open to the experiment” of Brexit.
The queen prompted more light-hearted speculation when she attended the opening of parliament in 2017 with a blue hat that prompted comparisons with the EU flag.
“Clearly the EU still inspires some in the UK,” tweeted Guy Verhofstadt, the European Parliament’s Brexit spokesman, while opposition Labour MP Paul Flynn jokingly referred to it as an “anti-Brexit hat.”
A year later, US President Donald Trump reignited the debate on the queen’s private views, saying that he had discussed Brexit with her during an audience.
He told the Mail on Sunday: “She said it’s a very — and she’s right — it’s a very complex problem.”
Queen calls for ‘common ground’ as Brexit divides Britain
Queen calls for ‘common ground’ as Brexit divides Britain
- With the clock ticking down to March 29, the date set in law for Brexit, the UK is in the deepest political crisis in half a century
- "I for one prefer the tried and tested recipes, like speaking well of each other and respecting different points of view; coming together to seek out the common ground," the Queen said
Fourth pair of Filipino twins set to fly to Riyadh next week for separation surgery
- Born in April 2024, Olivia and Gianna Manuel are joined from the chest to the abdomen
- Their mother learned about Saudi Conjoined Twins Program from social media updates
MANILA: As they prepare to travel to Riyadh next week for separation surgery, the parents of Olivia and Gianna Manuel have renewed hopes that their children will grow up like others, as they have become the fourth pair of Filipino twins to be taken care of by the Saudi Conjoined Twins Program.
The girls from the town of Talavera in the central Philippine province of Nueva Ecija were born in April 2024.
They are joined from the chest to the abdomen, a condition known as omphalopagus.
“They can’t eat properly. It’s really difficult for them. When one is lying down, the other often gets pinned down because the bigger one is very hyper. The smaller one is usually underneath,” the children’s mother, Ginalyn Manuel, told Arab News.
“When they’re lying down or sleeping, even if one still wants to sleep, she’s forced to wake up because the other keeps moving.”
She first learned about the Saudi Conjoined Twins Program when she followed social media updates on Akhizah and Ayeesha Yusoph, the second pair of Filipino twins to undergo separation surgery in Saudi Arabia.
At that time, she was still in the hospital with the girls, closely monitored by doctors for three months after they were born. She then reached out to the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center, which runs the conjoined twins program, and in July last year, a hospital in Riyadh got in touch with her.
After various steps of medical qualification, the Saudi Embassy in Manila announced the girls would soon travel to the Kingdom with their parents to undergo the separation procedure.
They are scheduled to fly to Riyadh on Jan. 26.
“Out of so many people, we were given the chance for our twins to be separated. If it were just us, we really couldn’t afford it. The help from the Saudi government is truly enormous,” Manuel said.
“I imagine them playing here, already apart, walking on their own. It feels so good just thinking about it. That’s what I always include in my prayers — that their separation surgery will be successful.”
Saudi Arabia is known as a pioneer in the field of separation surgery. KSrelief was established by King Salman in 2015 and is headed by Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah, one of the world’s most renowned pediatric surgeons.
Since 1990, he and his team have separated more than 140 children from 27 countries who were born sharing internal organs with their twins.
The first pair of Filipino conjoined twins, Ann and Mae Manzo, were separated under the program in March 2004. They were joined at the abdomen, pelvis and perineum.
They were followed by the Yusoph twins, who were joined at the lower chest and abdomen and shared one liver. Their successful separation procedure was in September 2024.
The third pair of Filipino conjoined twins, Maurice Ann and Klea Misa, who are joined at the head, flew to Riyadh in May and are currently being prepared for their surgery.
