• The Queen has expressed disappointment at the British political class’s ‘inability to govern,’ according to a report.
  • The 93-year-old monarch made the comments at a private event following the resignation of David Cameron as prime minister in 2016, the Sunday Times claimed.

  • ‘I think she’s really dismayed,’ said a royal source, who added: ‘I’ve heard her talking about her disappointment in the current political class and its inability to govern correctly.’

  • Her frustration is said to have grown since.

The Queen has privately expressed disappointment in the current crop of British politicians and their “inability to govern,” a report has claimed.

The 93-year-old monarch made the comments at a private event after David Cameron resigned following the EU referendum in 2016, the Sunday Times said.

The newspaper, quoting a royal source, said the Queen’s frustrations with the political class had only grown since then.

"I think she's really dismayed," the source said.

"I've heard her talking about her disappointment in the current political class and its inability to govern correctly."

The report comes after it emerged that Buckingham Palace and Downing Street are holding urgent talks about how to prevent the Queen from being dragged into the looming constitutional crisis over Brexit.

Sir Mark Sedwill, the UK's most senior civil servant, and Edward Young, the Queen's private secretary, spoke on the phone last week about increasing calls from both pro- and anti-Brexit MPs for her to step into the debate, the Telegraph reported.

The call was prompted by growing speculation that politicians will try and force the Queen to intervene if Boris Johnson loses a no-confidence vote in September or October.

Downing Street sources have said that the prime minister would refuse to resign until after Brexit, prompting anti-Brexit MPs including Dominic Grieve, the former attorney-general, to suggest the Queen could be force to summon him to Buckingham Palace and sack him.

In a further extraordinary intervention, John McDonnell, Labour's shadow chancellor, suggested he would respond by sending the Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn "in a cab" to Buckingham Palace to tell the Queen that the party was ready to assume power.

The Queen has remained impartial throughout her 67-year reign and the Royal household would be highly resistant to making any political intervention into a highly charged debate.