A senior Orangeman has questioned whether a claim that the late Queen Elizabeth referred to “that silly marching business” when discussing Orange Order parades meant she was actually referring to nationalist protesters.

Queen Elizabeth II reportedly dismissed Northern Ireland's Orange Marches as silly marching business during a private chat with Ireland's ambassador to the UK, Ted Barrington, in 2000.

Ted Barrington, who met the Queen at a Buckingham Palace garden party on 25 July that year, said it was not the first time he heard "her dismissive views of the Orange marches". Almost 25 years later,

Queen Elizabeth once described Northern Ireland’s Orange marches as ‘silly business’, newly unsealed government papers have revealed. The annual Orange marches of Protestants in Northern Ireland are highly contentious – mainly with their Catholic counterparts.

Queen Elizabeth II dismissed Northern Ireland's Orange Marches as "silly marching business" during a private conversation with Ireland's ambassador to the UK in 2000, newly released state papers have revealed.