Late Queens top aide breaks silence on handling pants crisis siege

A royal insider has ended his 'omerta' to lift the lid on confidential state discussions he had at a rainy Battersea bus stop in 2020.

A former chief adviser to the late Queen has revealed the crisis talks that took place after Boris Johnson was admitted to intensive care with Covid, including discussing 'scenario C' about what would happen if he died .

Lord Young of Old Windsor also lifted the lid on how he and the prime minister's top aide at the time, Martin Reynolds, intervened at the last minute to prevent a face-to-face meeting between the vulnerable monarch and the Tory leader unknowingly infected, thus averting a potential disaster. .

The independent MP broke his silence on the behind-the-scenes drama at the center of power in the early days of the 2020 coronavirus emergency, stressing the importance of an impartial civil service “when things go wrong” and of ” constitutional. the rulebook is out of print.”

Lord Young served the late Queen for almost two decades, latterly as Principal Private Secretary until her death in 2022, and remained in post to oversee the transition to the reign of King Charles III.

Speaking during a Lords debate in Parliament on concerns about the politicization of Whitehall, Lord Young said: “My argument is that a neutral civil service is vital to supporting the channels of communication, the constitutional channels between the 'State and government, especially in times of crisis, in particular. in the context of the unwritten constitution we have, which is 99% dependent on precedent and 1% dependent on when things go wrong.

He told his peers: “Before coming to the House I was for many years private secretary to the late Queen and I would like to offer an illustration of what happens when that 1% arises in a crisis . »

He recounted the events in early April 2020 when Mr Johnson was admitted to hospital with Covid-19, shortly after the first lockdown was imposed.

Lord Young said: “In recalling this illustration, I am very conscious of the principle of omerta to which I adhere and, as you would expect, I have sought permission from those whom I will name. »

He continued: “It was Monday April 6 in the early evening, it was pouring rain, I was walking home from Buckingham Palace, the Queen had just moved into Windsor Castle.

“I stopped at a bus shelter to answer a call from the excellent Martin Reynolds, Boris Johnson's principal private secretary.

“We knew the Prime Minister had been hospitalized the night before.

“But his protection officers had overheard some consultants discussing how they were going to tell Carrie (his current wife) that he might have to go to intensive care and on a ventilator.

“Obviously I had to inform the Queen.”

Lord Young added: “We had our suspicions, because the previous Wednesday the last face-to-face audience at Buckingham Palace had been scheduled.

“The Prime Minister considered it his duty to be there to do it face to face and the late Queen considered it her duty as well – in a sort of Blitz spirit, 'Well, I have to die someday' – but it really wasn't the time to take unnecessary risks.

“In the end, both participants were so keen to move forward that Martin and I arranged for him to tell the Prime Minister that the Palace wanted to cancel and for me to tell the Queen that Number 10 had gotten cold feet, which was very lucky, because at the end of the phone call… the Prime Minister had started coughing.”

The next day he received a call from the then cabinet secretary, Mark Sedwill, now Lord Sedwill, telling him that Mr Johnson had tested positive for Covid.

Lord Young said: “So there was a scenario that we had fortunately avoided, that of an unknowingly positive head of government finding himself in close proximity to a strong but vulnerable head of state, and the story could have take another constitutionally demanding route. »

With Mr Johnson subsequently admitted to hospital, Lord Young recalled the ongoing discussions while sitting on his mobile phone in a “rainy bus shelter near Battersea”.

He said: “There was no deputy prime minister, there was no precedent to draw on. »

Referring to the only Prime Minister assassinated while in office, Lord Young said: “Yes, Spencer Perceval was shot and died, that was a precedent, but not for a Prime Minister who was alive but unable to communicate during an unforeseen period. time.

“It was the even-handed nature of the discussion of what was described as Scenario C – the euphemistic and innocuous scenario which actually concerned what would happen if the Prime Minister died – that was so important.

“The impartial nature of the advice I received from the Cabinet Secretary and Chief of Staff, enabling me to report to Her Majesty in support of her as Head of State, was crucial.

“This places the state before the government and certainly before the boss.

“It is crucial, when the rules run out, to be able to rely on people with clear judgment to be able to navigate the space between the lines.”