David Cameron to apologize to Queen for Scottish referendum comment

LONDON, Sept. 25 (UPI) -- British Prime Minister David Cameron said he plans to apologize personally to Queen Elizabeth for his remark concerning her enthusiastic reaction to the defeated Scottish independence referendum.

His comment, that the queen "purred down the line" when he called to inform her of Scotland's rejection of independence, was picked up by a microphone during a private conversation with former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg at Bloomberg LP's headquarters in New York on Tuesday.

In New York to attend the U.N. General Assembly, Cameron said that Downing Street has relayed his apologies to Buckingham Palace and that he will personally apologize to the queen when he sees her next.

"Look, I'm very embarrassed by this. I'm extremely sorry about it. It was a private conversation, but clearly a private conversation that I shouldn't have had and won't have again. My office has already been in touch with the palace to make that clear and I will do so as well."

Typically, conversations between the prime minister and monarch are kept private.

The queen spoke out very little before the Scottish independence referendum, only asking that Scots "think very carefully about the future." Palace officials said she was privately "horrified" by the idea of Scotland breaking apart the United Kingdom.