The Prime Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon, has paid tribute to the Queen on her platinum jubilee, describing her as a “very extraordinary person”.
He reaffirmed the SNP’s commitment to retain the Queen and her successors, as head of state, should Scotland become independent.
The MSPs of the Scottish Greens, members of the SNP in government, boycotted a parliamentary debate this week to celebrate the jubilee.
Ms Sturgeon said: “There are different opinions in the UK about the institution of the monarchy, that’s right and right. We need to celebrate the fact that we live in a democracy where these differences can be expressed.
“You don’t have to be a big supporter of the monarchy – I’m not talking about you here – to have a great respect for the queen and think of her as a pretty extraordinary person for whom everyone in the UK and the Commonwealth has a deep debt. of gratitude “.
Mrs Sturgeon said she would “always love” the hours of individual conversation she had had with the Queen, saying: “This opportunity to talk to her, to benefit from her knowledge, her wisdom and perhaps most of all, the perspective completely the only thing he has about the history of the modern world is something that I value deeply and that I will always treasure. “
The role of the monarchy is a central element of political discourse in Scotland. Some opinion polls indicate less support for maintaining the monarchy than in the rest of the UK.
The protocol prevents the queen from publicly participating in the country’s politics, but many thought she broke with tradition before the 2014 independence referendum.
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He was heard telling a citizen that he expected voters to “think very well about the future.” It was widely believed that the union cause had benefited.
Whether it is an intervention or not, the queen is a political actor within the limits of her role as constitutional monarch.
Professor Murray Pittock, a historian at the University of Glasgow, told Sky News: “The Queen has not had much direct influence on the independence debate.
Image: Dozens of beacons were lit across Scotland on Thursday evening as they were all over the UK
“What it has done is preserve the position of the monarchy in this debate by respecting the institutions of decentralized government in Scotland, accommodating them in the UK more effectively than democratic politicians have sometimes done, and in doing so , assuring that those who support independence are more likely to support the monarchy and the crown.
“That’s his job: to support the crown and the institution he represents. And he’s done very well.”
Dozens of beacons were lit across Scotland on Thursday evening, as were all over the UK, and there will be several events across Scotland over the weekend.
To celebrate the jubilee, the Scottish government is giving the Queen a commemorative bottle of whiskey and a piece of tartan clothing.
A “jubilee wood” is also being planted in Holyrood Park, next to Holyroodhouse Palace, the Queen’s official residence in Scotland.