QUEEN ELIZABETH reportedly dismissed Orange Order marches as ‘silly’, according to state papers released this week.
The comments were recorded by Ted Barrington, the Irish Ambassador to Britain, following a conversation with the late monarch in 2000.
However, the Orange Order has dismissed the remark as a ‘throwaway comment’ lacking in context.
Garden party
The comments were contained in a report from Mr Barrington released along with other documents by the Department of Foreign Affairs and the National Archives of Ireland.
According to the BBC, the ambassador claimed the Queen remarked during a Buckingham Palace garden party on July 25, 2000, that the ‘silly marching business’ was quieter than usual.
His report added that the comments ‘were similar to those she has made to me on previous occasions’.
However, the document says that he wanted his report of the remarks to be ‘given limited circulation’ over fears they might spark controversy if publicised.
Response
Following the publication of the document, the Grand Secretary of the Orange Order appeared to take the reports with a pinch of salt.
In a statement published by GB News, Rev. Mervyn Gibson said: “There is no commentary as to what made it silly — was it the intolerance of the protesters; the intransigence of the Parades Commission?
“The throwaway comment at a garden party with no context to the totality of the conversation will allow the BBC and others to infer it is a condemnation of the Orange Institution.”
He added: “However, let it be clear, four words from a ‘private’ conversation with no explanation, quoted by a foreign Ambassador and open to interpretation will not diminish the affection the Orange Institution had for her late Majesty, nor will it affect the loyalty we have for the current King.”
Queen Elizabeth, who passed away in September 2022, made history in 2011 by becoming the first reigning British monarch to visit Ireland since it gained independence from Britain 90 years earlier.