The Queen of England may soon lose her position, at least on British passports. In an attempt to make passports more European, United Kingdom officials are considering removing the Queen's message from their first page.
The new documents, which might be issued from 2010, will bear reference to the European Union constitution in order to remind UK citizens that they are part of Europe, The Daily Telegraph reported in London on Monday.
The first page of the British passport features the Royal coat of arms with a message from the Queen: "Her Britannic Majesty's Secretary of State". The words outline the fact that the British citizen has a right to travel freely and has the right to protection and assistance.
But the coat of arms might be scrapped and replaced by the EU emblem of 12 stars with the message: "Every citizen of the Union".
"The changes relate to Article 20 of the EU Treaty which proposes that EU language be inserted into British passports. It's still under consideration and no decision has been taken yet," a spokesperson for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office was quoted as saying.
The treaty was discredited two years ago after member states, including France and the Netherlands, rejected it. Article 20 of the treaty reminds citizens that they are part of Europe and have rights as an EU citizen.
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," said William Hague, the shadow Foreign Secretary.
The British passports have born reference to the monarch since the first blue hardback booklets were handed out to citizens in 1915. They remained unchanged until 20 years ago when they were replaced by smaller burgundy booklets with the words 'European Union' printed across the cover.
