Former prime minister suggests royal family ‘would have been so glad’ if 1999 referendum on becoming a republic succeeded
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Former Australian prime minister Paul Keating has speculated that King Charles could renounce the UK’s claim on Australia because the royal family hoped that Australia would become a republic after the referendum in 1999.
The former Labor leader says he discussed his ambition for Australia to become a republic with Queen Elizabeth during a private exchange at Balmoral in 1993. He says he told the Queen he would “not involve her family” in his campaigning for an Australian head of state.
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