For the energy transition in Scotland, property owners will have to cut back – this is provided for by a new Scottish law, the “Heat Energy Bill”. But there is one exception to the set of rules for a prominent landowner: Elizabeth II, Queen of England. Your lawyers are said to have taken care of a special rule in a covert advocacy, reports British newspaper “The Guardian”.
Scottish landowners may be forced to sell their land to make way for new summer pipelines. The technology should enable climate-friendly heating networks and thus lower greenhouse gas emissions. But Buckingham Palace lawyers are said to have insisted on exempting royal land ownership from the rule, according to the Guardian. in one The relevant amendment specifically mentions land owned by the queen..
In doing so, Buckingham Palace apparently took advantage of a controversial formality in Scottish law – a royal consent clause known as the “queen’s consent”. According to this rule, the lawyers of the royal family must be informed whether any new laws may affect the powers or private interests of the monarch. Actually a formality – which, according to critics, is often used by the royal family to influence the law in their own interests. Spicy talk: According to the Guardian, Members of Parliament were not informed about the interference of royal lawyers.
Member of Parliament Andy Whitman thought about the exemption during a legislative debate in February. The statement made by Paul Wheelhouse, the Scottish Energy Minister at the time, was that it was necessary to achieve “smooth adoption”. According to the Guardian, Wheelhouse should not have disclosed that Buckingham Palace lawyers had insisted on an exception. MP Wightman is “shocked” by the royal intervention: “It should have been said in the debate,” the Guardian quoted him as saying. Over the past few months, the newspaper had reported several times how the British royal family influenced the legislative process.
The Royal Family rejects the notion that the law has been changed in favor of the Queen: “The Royal Family may be consulted on laws to ensure technical correctness and consistency in the application of laws to the Crown,” the Guardian said. Quote the President. “This procedure does not change the nature of such legislation.”
The royal family is one of the largest landowners in the United Kingdom – a historic holdover that pays off: by leasing the crown’s lands, the monarchs have improved their coffers over the centuries.
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