Queen's Commons informant

SYDNEY CHAPMAN, the MP who kept the Queen informed of MPs' feelings about the Windsor fire and her non-payment of income tax, outside Parliament during the filming of a television programme about his work as Vice-Chamberlain to the Royal Household. Mr Chapman, the Tory MP for Chipping Barnet, is the Government whip whose job it is to keep the monarch informed of parliamentary proceedings and MPs' views - particularly on issues directly affecting the Crown - in a daily, hand-written, 500-word despatch. He tells BBC 2's Scrutiny programme tonight: 'I try to distil what they are saying as conveniently as I can.'

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