Labour's Andy Burnham derided over cringeworthy sign off to Prince Charles’ spider memos
LABOUR left-winger and leadership hopeful Andy Burnham finished a letter to Prince Charles with a cringe-inducing sign off, newly released memos have revealed.
The former health secretary was writing a letter to the Prince of Wales thanking the royal for congratulating him as a newly-appointed minister.
But he ended the note with the hand-written flourish: “I have the honour to remain, Sir, your Royal Highness’s most humble and obedient servant.”
I have the honour to remain, Sir, your Royal Highness’s most humble and obedient servant
The sign-off appears to be following ministerial protocol, with fellow former health secretary John Reid using the same wording when he wrote to the prince.
However, Yvette Cooper, the former planning minister, signed off her letter to the royal with the simple phrase: “Respectfully yours.”
As the fight for the Labour leadership hots up, Mr Burnham, a frontrunner in the race, has been derided for his obsequious reply.
One commentator said the sign-off spelled the end of his leadership campaign, while others agreed it had severely damaged his credentials as a leftwing moderniser.
Others on Twitter accused Mr Burnham of “sucking up” to the heir to the throne, while another tweeted: “Your most obedient servant? Thought better of Andy Burnham #socialism”
The letter came to light with the release of the second batch of 'black spider memos', which revealed how the prince lobbied ministers over a range of topics.