Mention of Queen may be scrapped from British passports

LONDON: Believe it or not, mention of the Queen of England could be removed from British passports in a bid to make them more European.

Instead, the new documents, which could be in place as early as 2010, would bear reference to the EU constitution in order to remind UK citizens that they are part of Europe, the Daily Telegraph reported on Monday.

The first page of the British passport has featured the Royal coat of arms with a message from the Queen: "Her Britannic Majesty's Secretary of State". The words outline that the citizen has a right to travel freely and has the right to protection and assistance.

Under new changes, the daily claimed, it has been suggested that the coat of arms are scrapped and replaced by the EU emblem of 12 stars with the message underneath reading: "Every citizen of the Union".

"The changes relate to Article 20 of the EU Treaty which proposes EU language to be inserted into British passports. It's still under consideration and no decision has been taken yet," a spokesperson for Foreign and Commonwealth Office was quoted as saying.

The treaty was discredited two years ago after member states, including France and the Netherlands, had rejected it.

However, the proposals have been criticised by the Tories as yet "another example of the EU gaining more power over British citizens".

"People want to be proud to be British and their passports should have a clear association with that. There is no good reason to change the traditional presentation of our passports.

"These proposals are yet another illustration of how the British people must be given their say in a referendum before any new powers are signed over to the EU under a proposed new treaty," William Hague, the Shadow Foreign Secretary, was quoted by the daily as saying.

It may be mentioned that the British passports have born reference to the monarch since 1915 when the first blue hardback booklets were handed out to citizens. They remained the same until 20 years ago when they were replaced by smaller burgundy booklets with the words 'European Union' printed across the cover.