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THE Queen twice declined requests by Prime Minister David Cameron to support the Union in keynote speeches, it was claimed today.

She insisted she had to remain neutral in the referendum debate, according to magazine Private Eye.

Her confidante and private secretary Sir Christopher Geidt has set up a taskforce to ensure that there is no "Nobama" moment.

And ministers in Edinburgh advised her not to enter the debate.

First Minister Alex Salmond wants to retain The Queen as head of state should Scotland vote yes on September 18.

The Queen did appear to come out against devolution and independence in a Silver Jubilee Speech in 1977.

(Image: GETTY)

She said then: “The problems of progress, the complexities of modern administration, the feeling that Metropolitan Government is too remote from the lives of ordinary men and women, these among other things have helped to revive an awareness of historic national identities in these Islands.

“They provide the background for the continuing and keen discussion of proposals for devolution to Scotland and Wales within the United Kingdom.

“I number kings and queens of England and of Scotland, and Princes of Wales among my ancestors and so I can readily understand these aspirations.

“But I cannot forget that I was crowned Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

“Perhaps this Jubilee is a time to remind ourselves of the benefits which union has conferred, at home and in our international dealings, on the inhabitants of all parts of this United Kingdom.”

Last week, US president Barack Obama incensed nationalists when he said he thought Scotland should stay in the UK.