Junior Minister and Dublin European Elections candidate Brian Hayes with Queen Elizabeth II and her husband the Duke of Edinburgh Prince Phillip in his election literature.

Images of the Queen and an Irish rugby star on a minister’s European election leaflet should not have been used as part of his campaign, Buckingham Palace has said.

Rugby star Rob Kearney has spoken out about his image printed on Brian Hayes’s campaign literature.

The junior finance minister used photographs of himself with Rob Kearney and teammate Paul O’Connell and used a separate image pictured with Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip on literature.

Ireland rugby player Kearney said he did not want anyone to be under the impression that he was involved in Mr Hayes’s bid to win a seat at the European Parliament for Fine Gael.

Protocol

And last night Buckingham Palace said Queen Elizabeth is above politics and should not be used in election literature.

Buckingham Palace said there is strict protocol in place in Britain to ensure this situation would not occur there.

When Mr Kearney was asked about the use of the image he stated: “I wouldn’t like anyone to think I was involved.”

Buckingham Palace said if it had been a British candidate who had used the Queen’s photograph, they would have been contacted immediately and asked to retract their literature.

Mr Kearney’s protocol may not be as strict, but he has emphasised that he was not aligned with the Fine Gael TD. “I don’t know a huge amount about Brian’s beliefs,” he said, adding: “Do I endorse him? No. Am I against him? No.”

The Leinster player also said that he was asked to get into a photo holding a leaflet for the Lord Mayor of Athlone.

“I felt duty-bound not to as I didn’t know anything about her or what she stood for,” he said.

Mr Hayes could not be contacted last night. He previously told the

hnews@herald.ie