Queen Elizabeth II spoke of her relief that the “silly marching season” in Northern Ireland was quieter than usual during a visit from the Irish ambassador in 2000, it has been revealed. The comments were unearthed as the Dublin government released a series of state papers on Friday.

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.