A clampdown on illegal immigration was relaxed because Ministers feared the Queen believed it could affect the polo season, it was claimed last night.
The Home Office had planned to close a loophole that granted special visas to hundreds of foreigners working in the so-called ‘sport of kings’ amid fears it was being used as a backdoor for low-skilled migrants to enter the country.
But the proposals were watered down in the wake of Buckingham Palace’s considerable interest in the matter, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.
One source said the Queen became ‘very animated’ over the plans, while a former official said Ministers went ‘above and beyond’ normal practice to address Palace concerns.
Polo fan: Her Majesty congratulates a player at this year’s Queen’s Cup
Whitehall sources told this newspaper the subject was discussed when Queen had a meeting with the Home Secretary at the time, Amber Rudd.
Buckingham Palace declined to comment, but insiders insisted the Queen would never lobby over a specific policy as she has to remain strictly neutral on political matters.
Ms Rudd, who presided over a ‘hostile environment’ towards immigrants during her time at the Home Office, had planned major changes to the polo visa scheme, which allowed players and their grooms to work in the UK over the season, which runs from March to September.
Although the country’s 200 clubs rely on these workers, mostly from Argentina and Australia, immigration officials warned the system was rife with exploitation.
Sport of Kings: Action at the Queen’s Cup, played in Windsor Great Park
Experts claimed many of the more than 800 foreigners who entered the country on polo visas – each of whom was sponsored by a specific club – actually ended up working as farm labourers, rather than in the teams’ stables.
Such concerns led the Home Office to suspend the sponsor licence for more than a dozen polo clubs. But to address the issue more permanently, officials planned to restrict polo visas to only the highest levels of non-EU professional players from 2017.
However, despite the proposed clampdown, a temporary quota of 500 visas has been granted every year since. This newspaper has been told that the special allocation was granted just days after Ms Rudd had a private audience with the Queen in January 2017.
We also understand that civil servants were told the Royal Household had privately raised concerns that the clampdown would adversely affect the English polo season by blocking much-needed skilled grooms from entering the UK.
Queen Elizabeth II attended the Cartier Queen’s Cup at the Guard’s Polo Club in Windsor Great Park in June
The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh during the polo at the Guards Polo Club, in Windsor Great Park, Egham, Surrey
Ministers are set to decide within days whether to extend the quota solution for 2020, potentially putting the Government on a collision course with Buckingham Palace.
The Queen has been a regular spectator at polo matches since the mid-1950s, while Princes Philip, Charles, William and Harry have all played. Her Majesty also lends her title to the English polo season’s most prestigious match, the Queen’s Cup, sponsored by jewellery giants Cartier and played every July at the Guards Polo Club in Windsor Great Park.
The elite club was founded by the Duke of Edinburgh, who was one of the key figures in popularising the sport in the UK, and who was an active player until he turned 50.
Last year, the club recorded its first annual financial loss since 2013, and blamed the Home Office decision to impose tougher immigration rules, which had sparked uproar across the sport.
The game’s governing body, the Hurlingham Polo Association, began legal proceedings to challenge the changes in October 2016 and it is understood the Palace raised their concerns with the Home Office shortly afterwards.
Critics of the clampdown said the 2017 season would be destroyed as there was a shortfall of British or EU grooms ready to step in to fill the skills gap. It is claimed these concerns were echoed by the Palace.
This newspaper also understands that officials at the Home Office were informed of the close interest the Palace was taking in the issue. A deal was eventually cut between the Hurlingham Polo Association and the Home Office to allow the clampdown to be softened to allow the 500 visas.
Last night a friend of Ms Rudd – who was forced to resign in 2018 over the Windrush immigration scandal – said she did not recall a specific conversation with the Queen.
But Home Office sources do not dispute that the Palace expressed concern over the matter. One said: ‘The Queen was said to be very animated about it and that was picked up at a ministerial level. The Palace’s concerns with the issue were widely noted.’
A former official added: ‘It was clearly of great interest to the Palace, and that shaped the urgent nature of the response.
‘It went above and beyond the usual deals cut with different special interest groups and sports.’
Ms Rudd met the Monarch during the state visit of the Colombian president in November 2016 and again at a Privy Council meeting on December 13 that year.
It is also understood that she had a private audience with the Queen at the Sandringham estate in Norfolk on January 19, 2017.
Just eight days later, the Home Office performed its U-turn to allow a total of 500 players and, crucially, their grooms to enter the UK for the 2017 season as a temporary fix to quell the industry fury.
Royal sources insist that the meetings with a senior Minister were standard practice and that the Monarch has a right to be kept informed on policy issues of interest.
The supposed stopgap measure was extended for 2018 and 2019, and Home Secretary Priti Patel is expected to make a ruling within days on whether to extend it again for the 2020 season, as the existing arrangement is due to expire in April.
However, polo sources say they have been explicitly warned that the measure is temporary and merely designed to allow the sport time to recruit and train enough British players and grooms.
Last night the Home Office said that an announcement on the issue would be made in due course, but refused to comment on private conversations.