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“She’s queen of Australia, Canada — she could be Queen of Scots if the Scots wanted,” said Vernon Bogdanor, a politics professor and constitutional expert at Oxford University.

“The Scots have said they will produce a written constitution, with the queen as head of state. These things work,” he added.

Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond has been consistent in saying that he wanted to keep the queen — and her successors — in that role. This week he said he looked forward to her being “Queen of Scots,” and said there is “substantial” goodwill in Scotland to support that prospect.

Polls have backed that view, though not everyone in the Yes camp agrees. Some politicians, including members of Salmond’s Scottish National Party, have said they prefer to create a republic.

The constitutional details of how an independent Scotland can keep the monarchy — or in a less-likely scenario become a republic — are not yet clear.

Bogdanor said the British government would likely appoint a “governor general’ to represent the queen in an independent Scotland, as has been done in Commonwealth countries. The person in that role would be appointed by the queen on the advice of the British prime minister, he said.

The queen has more Scottish blood than many other British monarchs — her mother came from an ancient aristocratic Scottish family. In addition, her affection for Scotland is well known.

Elizabeth traditionally spends three months each summer at Balmoral Castle, the private Scottish home for the royals since the 1850s. She also spends a week every year at Holyrood Palace, the monarch’s official residence in Edinburgh.