David Cameron explains why he asked Queen to intervene in Scottish referendum and admits 'terrible mistake' over phone call revelation

The Queen famously told well-wishers outside a church in Aberdeenshire that she hoped people ‘will think very carefully about the future’

David Cameron has sought to justify asking the Queen to intervene in the Scottish independence referendum after being sent into a panic by a poll predicting a victory for the Yes campaign.

The former Tory prime minister admitted for the first time that he had sought support from Buckingham Palace in 2014, suggesting the Queen could “raise an eyebrow” during the final days of the close-fought campaign.

The Queen famously told well-wishers outside a church in Aberdeenshire that she hoped people “will think very carefully about the future”, in what was widely perceived as a boost to the No campaign just days before the 2014 vote.

Amid a backlash over Mr Cameron’s actions, he told the Today programme: “I never asked for anything improper to be said or done.

“The context for this ... was at the time [Scottish first minister] Alex Salmond was going around saying her majesty would be a proud monarch of an independent Scotland.

“This concerned me because, obviously, my side of the argument couldn’t say anything about that. So I had conversations with private secretaries and the like but I never asked for anything improper to be said or done.”

Pressed on why he had involved the Queen in politics, Mr Cameron said: “I never asked for anything improper. I don’t want to say anything more about this, I’m sure some people would think, possibly even me, that I’ve already said a bit too much.”

The former Tory leader said he had made a “terrible mistake” when he was overheard saying the Queen had “purred down the phone” when he informed her Scottish voters had decided to remain in the UK.

The row emerged in a new BBC documentary about Mr Cameron’s time in power, where he revealed he had been staying at Balmoral when a newspaper published a poll putting the Yes campaign ahead for the first time, which he compared to a “blow to the solar plexus”.

He said: “I remember conversations I had with my private secretary and he had with the Queen’s private secretary and I had with the Queen’s private secretary, not asking for anything that would be in any way improper or unconstitutional but just a raising of the eyebrow even you know, a quarter of an inch, we thought would make a difference.”

Of the remark, Mr Cameron said: “It was certainly well covered although the words were very limited, I think it helped to put a slightly different perception on things.”

The revelations come on the day of publication of Mr Cameron’s long-awaited memoir, in which he laid into his former colleagues Boris Johnson and Michael Gove, and expressed remorse over the political chaos caused by the EU referendum result.

He said he was “miserable” when he resigned as prime minister after the Brexit vote – but claimed he was left “without the credibility needed to be prime minister”.

Mr Cameron said he had fought hard during the campaign, but had done so alone – claiming the Labour leadership had not been committed.

He also expressed his sadness that prominent former Tories, including Ken Clarke and Nicholas Soames, had been kicked out of the party by Mr Johnson, saying they should be allowed to return to the fold.