Could the Queen get tangled up in Brexit?

Hello, royal watchers. This is your biweekly dose of royal news and analysis. Reading this online? Sign up here to get this delivered to your inbox.

As Queen Elizabeth settles in for her annual summer holiday in the Scottish Highlands, there's reason to think she's relieved to be away from the hurly-burly of London and relaxing in the peacefulness she's always cherished at Balmoral.

Still, there must be a little angst among some of her courtiers, as headlines put her front and centre in potential political conundrums as the messiness of Brexit churns on.

"Could the Queen sack Boris Johnson?" one headline read in part the other day.

For the record, there's no easy answer as to whether the Queen could indeed move the current British prime minister out of his position. It's a move some have speculated could come into play if Johnson lost a non-confidence vote in Parliament and refused to resign. But some experts suggest it seems rather unlikely it would come to that.

But such speculation does refocus attention on a ticklish issue for the Royals: just how involved in politics can they be?

The issue was top of mind for some just a few days earlier, with Meghan Markle taking the helm of the September issue of British Vogue.

Some observers saw politics at work in the Duchess of Sussex's guest-editorship and choice of 15 diverse women on the cover of the glossy fashion magazine. Others rejected that assessment.

"People are criticizing Meghan Markle for having sort of dipped her toe in the political waters," Harriet Hall, lifestyle editor of the Independent newspaper, said in an interview.

"But actually when you look at what's she's done inside the edition, these aren't political articles per se," Hall said, noting Meghan interviewed Michelle Obama about motherhood and girls' education.

While there's a general view that high-level royals shouldn't wade into political affairs, reality isn't quite so clearcut.

"We've had this situation with the Queen being the longest-reigning monarch in history, being very careful about never speaking about politics," Camilla Tominey, a royal commentator for the Daily Telegraph newspaper, said in an interview.

"But then we've had her son and successor, Prince Charles, being a little more politically motivated. We've seen him talk about architecture, climate change, sustainable development and other issues."

Charles sparked headlines a few years ago when word leaked out that he reportedly likened Russian President Vladimir Putin to Adolf Hitler in a private conversation.

And after a decade-long legal battle, letters that Charles wrote to U.K. government ministers — dubbed the "black spider memos" because of his distinctive handwriting — were published in 2015. The missives touched on issues ranging from resources for British troops to restrictions on dairy farmers.

The Queen's name has surfaced in recent headlines as MPs wrestle with how the U.K. might leave the European Union.

"The Queen is not a decorative extra," former attorney general Dominic Grieve told The Times. "She has sought to keep herself well away from the cut and thrust of politics, but at the end of the day there are residual powers and responsibilities which lie with her. She might have to dispense with [Johnson's] services herself."

While there is the view that the Queen keeps her distance from politics, there have been times she let her views be known — or appeared to. For example, she favoured sanctions against South Africa in the 1980s, former Canadian prime minister Brian Mulroney has said.

And in the days leading to the Scottish referendum in 2014, there was much attention focused on her saying that she hoped people would think "very carefully about the future." Buckingham Palace followed up by saying the Queen "maintains her constitutional impartiality. As the Queen has always said, this is a matter for the people of Scotland."

As far as Meghan and Vogue are concerned, Hall thinks the message that the Duchess of Sussex put through the magazine is one of inclusivity and equality.

"I do think people get confused with this idea of feminism and the idea of politics. Now, feminism is a political movement, but at the end of the day, it's equality between the sexes, and that's something that she should perfectly be able to talk about openly."

— With files from Susan Ormiston

A Canadian 'buzz'

Canadians hoping to pick up a copy of British Vogue's September issue will have to wait several weeks.

At Bolen Books in Victoria, there's been a "big buzz" around it, said manager Colin Holt. "We do have way higher demand." Bolen Books would normally stock 15 to 20 copies of British Vogue, but has doubled its request. It will be a while before the issue is on the shelves, however.

Indigo expects the issue will hit stores in mid-September, public relations specialist Melissa Perri said in an email.

At Atlantic News in Halifax, inquiries about the September issue started rolling in as soon as official word broke of Meghan's involvement with it.

"There absolutely has been a great interest in the fact that she is the guest editor," said co-owner Michele Gerard.

And that interest is coming from younger people — anywhere from 25 to 50 years of age — compared with regular readers of royal titles.

Gerard more than doubled her regular monthly request for British Vogue and asked for 50 copies, but doesn't expect to see the issue before the middle of next month. "If you want a copy, you have to put your name on a list. Otherwise … you won't get one."

Royal rivalries on the water

Prince William and Kate seem to like to face off in sporting rivalries, and they were back at it a few days ago during a charity sailing regatta off the south coast of England.

Some of that sporting spirit has also been on display during their visits to Canada and other countries. William won a dragon boat race in Prince Edward Island in 2011, but Kate came out victorious during a sailing event in New Zealand three years later.

This time, however, they both came up short against the celebrity sailors also taking part in the event off the Isle of Wight.

Happy birthday — you're on social media

While there is little way to know how members of the Royal Family wish one another well in person on their birthdays, the celebratory salutations of senior royals now seem to require a social media shout-out to one another.

So it came as no surprise various royal accounts were wishing Meghan a happy 38th birthday on Aug. 4.

Her husband, Prince Harry, took to their Instagram account, sharing a photo of Meghan from their trip Down Under last fall and saying, "'Happy Birthday to my amazing wife. Thank you for joining me on this adventure! - Love, H."

William and Kate also wished Meghan well, sharing an image of themselves walking with Meghan and Harry.

It was hard not to think that the image had been deliberately chosen to counter rumours of discord between the two couples, which swirled for months.

Royally quotable

"We do this for the person that can't scream and shout like we can."

— Princess Eugenie will be the first member of the Royal Family to launch a podcast, which will have a charitable focus on bringing anti-slavery campaigners together.

Royals in Canada

Royal visits to Canada now seem to follow a relatively predictable pattern: a few days or maybe a bit more than a week focused on specific areas of the country.

But that wasn't always the case. 

One visit well outside the current norm came in the summer of 1958, when Princess Margaret spent 31 days travelling from coast to coast. The visit that began on July 12 took her from British Columbia to Nova Scotia, with stops in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick.

"I knew you had a large country," the Globe and Mail reported her saying, as she recounted her flight to Victoria, "but it was still amazing how it seemed to go on and on and on."

Sometimes the crowds greeting her were massive. More than 25,000 came out in Halifax, the Globe reported. In other places, the welcome was more muted. In Victoria, a Globe reporter found "the local inhabitants seem to be in a bit of a quandary over just how much they should let their hair down on this historic occasion."

Along the way, Queen Elizabeth's younger sister was given an island. (There was some dispute about this, after a local Indigenous leader said the B.C. government didn't own Portland Island and had no right to give it away, the Globe reported. Margaret ended up giving the island back to the province nine years later.)

Margaret also had a mountain named after her in Alberta, and sparked headlines for the time she spent sipping drinks with a future Canadian prime minister (John Turner).

The trip came at a time of great public interest in the 27-year-old Margaret, who was seen as a glamorous and fashionable young royal who three years earlier had put a very public end to her romance with Peter Townsend.

Margaret returned to Canada nine times after that summer sojourn, with her last visit coming in 1996, six years before her death. On that final, five-day personal trip, she was in Toronto. She visited Princess Margaret Hospital and was on hand for the reopening of a school that bore her name.

• Our friends at CBC Archives have taken a closer look at Margaret's 1958 visit, including the mock "atomic battle" she saw at CFB Gagetown in New Brunswick.

Royal reads

• A writer in The Atlantic argues that in guest-editing British Vogue, Meghan embodies the contradictions of today's protest movements, which often sound more radical than they are. 

• That guest-editing gig also reignited the online war between fans of Meghan and Kate. [The Daily Telegraph] 

• Prince Harry admitted to "more than a tinge of jealousy" for Spitfire pilots trying to fly around the world. [The Daily Telegraph]

• A runaway princess and an Emirati sheik faced off in a messy custody case in London. [CBC] 

• A tree planted by Princess Anne was uprooted — twice — by vandals and has gone missing from a forest north of London. [BBC]

Sign up here to have The Royal Fascinator newsletter land in your inbox every other Friday.

I'm always happy to hear from you. Send your ideas, comments, feedback and notes to [email protected]. Problems with the newsletter? Please let me know about any typos, errors or glitches.