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Was Michael Gove present at the Queen’s ‘Brexit’ lunch?

Today’s Sun claims on its front page that the Queen backs Brexit. The paper reports that the Queen clashed with Nick Clegg, who was then Deputy Prime Minister, over Europe at a lunch in 2011. During a heated discussion on the EU, Her Majesty is reported to have declared that the EU was ‘heading in the wrong direction’.

While Clegg has said on Twitter that the story is ‘nonsense’, the Sun claim that a ‘highly reliable source’ says otherwise. So, who else was at the lunch? As the BBC’s Nick Sutton points out, a look through the court circular suggests there was only one lunch Nick Clegg attended with the Queen in 2011.

At that lunch, Brexit-backing Michael Gove — who attended Rupert Murdoch’s wedding over the weekend — was in attendance, alongside his Brexit comrade Cheryl Gillan, Lord McNally and Judith Simpson, who attended as clerk of the council.

CourtCircular

(Credit: Nick Sutton)

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