Queen warns leaders to 'rise above the politics' at COP26

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Prue MacSween said the royals have become overly politicised in recent years and that this has damaged their reputation among Australians. But she is no fan of Australia becoming a republic, expressing disgust at the idea of former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull becoming President.

Talking on Sky News Australia, Ms MacSween said the Queen should keep clear of politics altogether.

She said: “They’re woke and they’re entering politics, and they should have kept away from it.

“William in particular – and the Queen.

“The respect that a lot of us had for the royals has sort of been eroded a lot.”

Ms MacSween’s comments appear to have been particularly inspired by the involvement of the British Royal Family in the ongoing COP26 summit.

The Queen highlighted that she was “especially happy” to address the climate conference last week.

She said: “The time for words [on the need to address the impacts of climate change] has now moved to the tome of action.”

She added that she “could not be more proud” of her eldest son, Prince Charles, and her eldest grandson, Prince William, for championing the cause of tackling climate change.

READ MORE: Queen lays bare ‘greater closeness’ with Prince William in key speech

Key royals, including William, Kate and Prince Charles, attended the conference in person.

This sparked critical reaction not just from Australian commentators but even from some journalists in Britain.

Peter Hitchens, a long-time supporter of constitutional monarchy, wrote in his latest column in the Mail on Sunday that “the House of Windsor’s total mass conversion to Green orthodoxy has destroyed the case for this particular Royal Family”.

“The whole point of the Crown is that it does not take sides in politics. Yet in the past few days, three generations of Royals have given their support to one of the most contentious causes in human history.”

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He stressed that he is not a republican, “or anything silly like that”, but that he has given up supporting the monarchy.

Perhaps anticipating criticism for seemingly straying away from neutrality, the Queen said in her COP26 speech that leaders must “rise above politic” in order to achieve “true statesmanship”.

Supporters of the monarch’s stance on climate change would insist that the issue goes beyond politics because it effects not just the people of today but the generations which are yet to follow in their footsteps.

But Sky News Australia presenter Chris Smith suggested that criticism of the Royal Family’s involvement in politics will only grow stronger when Prince Charles, who has been very vocal on the need to take action against climate change for many years, becomes King Charles.

He said a King Charles-led royal family “will test our loyalty” because Australians “don’t have the same faith or trust in Charles” as they have in the Queen.

“Maybe Australia will reconsider its constitutional monarchy.”

Australia held a referendum on becoming a republic and replacing the Queen and Governor-General with a President in 1999 in which almost 55 percent of Australians voted against the change.

Express.co.uk contacted Buckingham Palace for comment.

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