Lord Robertson: King Charles will be determined UK stays together

His intervention came during a discussion on BBC's Newsnight last night about the future of the UK during the new monarch's reign and the convention that the monarch is required to be neutral on political issues.

Michael Keating, emeritus professor of politics at Aberdeen University, said King Charles was facing a "growing constitutional crisis" with support for independence running about 50 per cent and that the issue was not going away.

"Neither side, the unionists nor nationalists is winning the argument at the moment and that question is really not going to go away," said Professor Keating.

He went on to say that the constitutional issue posed challenges for King Charles saying: "This is going to make it much more difficult, than perhaps it was in the past, to be the monarch of all four nations and to maintain a position of neutrality on the constitution which is the position the monarch has to take."

But responding to Professor Keating, Lord Robertson, who campaigned against independence ahead of the 2014 referendum, said: "That may be the case, but at the same time the King as Prince Charles was always in the shadow of his mother. His mother dominated the scene inevitably as she would.

"And therefore he could not impose a personality but we know, those of us who met him and who know his views that he is as Scottish and indeed sometimes the Welsh say 'why is the Prince of Wales' so much involved in Scottish affairs?'

"So once he is out of that shadow, inevitably I think we'll see a personality that he is determined to make sure that the Union stays together and that the various components of the Union..."

He was interrupted by presenter Victoria Derbyshire who said: "He will have to remain neutral obviously."

She then referred to the comments made by the late Queen outside Crathie Kirk near Balmoral ahead of the 2014 referendum.

Pausing to speak to someone in the crowd, she was overheard saying, “Well, I hope people will think very carefully about the future.” Her comments was interpreted as a steer against voting for independence.

After the vote former Prime Minister David Cameron told New York mayor the Queen had “purred” down the telephone when he informed her that independence had been rejected.

He later had to apologise to the Queen for breaking the convention that the conversations between the Prime Minister and monarch should remain private.

Continuing the discussion with Professor Keating and Ms Derbyshire, Lord Robertson then added: "He will have to stay neutral.

"He will stay neutral. I am sure he will but I think he is going to be the King of the United Kingdom and what matters to him as well so therefore making sure he is rooted in the various parts of the Kingdom will be part of his

"He can be dispassionate, he can be neutral but he can still show a sensitivity to the feelings that are around."

Charles received both praise and criticism for advocating causes close to his heart when he was Prince of Wales.

Having acceded to the throne, he affirmed that he would cease such activity and preserve the political neutrality of the monarch, a tradition his mother observed.

“My life will, of course, change as I take up my new responsibilities. It will no longer be possible for me to give so much of my time and energies to the charities and issues for which I care so deeply. But I know this important work will go on in the trusted hands of others," he said.

Deputy First Minister John Swinney said yesterday that King Charles should be the head of state if Scotland voted for independence.

He reaffirmed the SNP’s position to retain the monarchy if it was to win a referendum, despite significant numbers of party members being republicans.

He told the Today programme on BBC Radio 4 that “as a representative of the mainstream opinion on the question of independence … my party’s position is that the monarch — up until Thursday it was Her Majesty the Queen, it is now His Majesty the King — should be the head of state of an independent Scotland.

“It’s what we argued in the referendum in 2014, and it’s what we will continue to argue.”

The Scottish Government’s independence white paper ahead of the 2014 referendum vowed to keep the country as a constitutional monarchy if it left the UK. This would be similar to other Commonwealth states such as Australia or Canada.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, who had an audience with the King in Holyroodhouse Palace in Edinburgh yesterday, plans to hold an independence referendum in October next year using Holyrood powers after the UK Government failed to agree a new vote.

The Supreme Court is to examine next month if the Scottish Parliament has the legal power to hold an independence referendum without Westminster agreement.

She has said she will regard the next general election as a 'de facto' independence referendum should the court rule that an independence referendum is outwith its powers.