A senior Orangeman has questioned whether a claim that the late Queen Elizabeth referred to “that silly marching business” when discussing Orange Order parades meant she was actually referring to nationalist protesters.
The Rev Mervyn Gibson, the grand secretary of the Orange Order, spoke out after the claim was revealed in a series of State Papers cleared for release this week by the Republic’s Department for Foreign Affairs.
He also questioned whether the queen, who died in 2022, may have been referring to the Parades Commission with the alleged “silly” remark.
The report described how the British monarch made the comments about the marching season to the Republic’s then-ambassador to the UK, Ted Barrington, in 2000.
Mr Barrington was attending a garden party at Buckingham Palace in July of that year, when he claimed the queen told him of her relief that the “silly marching business” was quieter than in previous years.
The ambassador claimed her comments “were similar to those she has made to me on previous occasions”.
Trouble flared across the north during marching season in the mid to late 90s as a result of the Drumcree dispute, in which the Orange Order were barred from parading along the mainly nationalist Garvaghy Road in Portadown.
However in response the Rev Gibson questioned the meaning behind the alleged comment by the queen, and suggested it may not have been aimed specifically at members of his institution.
In a statement to BBC NI, Rev Gibson said: “There is no commentary as to what made it silly – was it the intolerance of the protesters; the intransigence of the Parades Commission? The throw away comment at a garden party with no context to the totality of the conversation, will allow the BBC and others to infer it is condemnation of the Orange Institution.”
He claimed the queen “always acknowledged and thanked the institution for our proclamation of loyalty each year on 12th July”.
“Let it be clear, four words from a ‘private’ conversation with no explanation, quoted by a foreign ambassador and open to interpretation will not diminish the affection the Orange Institution had for her late Majesty, nor will it affect the loyalty we have for the current King,” he added.
Rev Gibson, who was awarded an MBE through the queen’s final birthday honours list in 2022, said the alleged remarks would be “used and abused by the usual nationalist ‘mouthpieces’ to further their propaganda”.
He added: However, let it be clear, four words from a ‘private’ conversation with no explanation, quoted by a foreign Ambassador and open to interpretation will not diminish the affection the Orange Institution had for her late Majesty, nor will it affect the loyalty we have for the current King.”