Queen's 'support' for Paris

The Queen: said to favour Paris bid

14 April 2012

London's Olympic bid leaders were on the back foot again today as they tried to fend off damaging reports that the Queen had undermined the campaign by backing arch rivals Paris to win.

In a private conversation during a drinks reception at Buckingham Palace, the Queen is reported to have told an East End teenager that she was worried that Londoners were not fully behind the capital's bid.

Despite claims from bid officials that the Queen's comments were not in line with the support they have enjoyed from the Royal Family, the claims are certain to cause major embarrassment to London.

Amran Hussain, a schoolboy from Beckton who lives with his mother, sister and two brothers, was invited to a Christmas reception at the Palace for more than 500 guests chosen for their outstanding contributions to civic life.

According to the boy, she gave her comments after he asked her what she thought about the prospect of the Olympics coming to the East End. He claims she said: "Oh, I think Paris has the best chance of winning. I don't think the public in this country support it like the public in Paris do."

A Palace spokeswoman said the Queen held a reception for bid officials and supporters last summer. She added: "We cannot say specifically that the Queen supports the bid because there is a political element to it But it is significant that, in a busy schedule, she found time to hold a reception for those involved."

Mike Lee, a spokesman for London 2012, said: "The reported remarks do not fit with the support we have had from the Queen and the Royal Family. They have been very encouraging and we are in talks about further participation."

Lee added that public support for the bid was at its highest it has been since the campaign began almost two years ago. He said 75 per cent of Britons and Londoners were in favour of the city hosting the Games.

London's bid organisers hope to persuade Prince William to attend the International Olympic Committee session in Singapore in July when the host city for the 2012 Games will be named. Prime Minister Tony Blair is unable to attend the meeting and London 2012 feels the Prince could provide a final boost.

Meanwhile, executives at the BBC today made an official plea to Olympic chiefs to reconsider their decision to axe an unprecedented television debate on the bidding campaign for the 2012 Games.

Richard Sambrook, the head of the international channel BBC World, has written to International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge about the programme, which was due to involve London 2012 leader Seb Coe and the leaders of the four rival bids.

After originally giving approval for filming to go ahead on 27 January, the IOC controversially pulled the plug on the plans this week, saying the event would contravene its bidding rules.

BBC bosses, who hoped to broadcast the programme to millions across the globe on BBC World, are clearly frustrated by the last-minute move, especially since the idea had the support of Coe and his counterparts from Paris, New York, Moscow and Madrid.

Sambrook points out in the letter that the IOC had seen nothing wrong with the idea when talks were held in November and that nothing has changed in the planning since.

But the IOC, which does not allow debates on bids , now says that the concept of five people in the same place contravenes that rule, even if the leaders were not allowed to ask each other questions or criticise each other.

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Queen's 'support' for Paris

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