TJN’s appeal to the Queen seeks to draw a link between the contrasting prospects of those Commonwealth nations battling against poverty and those UK-linked tax havens that have attracted capital oversea because of the low tax and secrecy on offer.

“The victims of this secrecy include, among others, 2 billion Commonwealth citizens,” Christensen tells the Queen. “A recent study of 33 African countries found that they lost over $1tr in capital flight since the 1970s, of which $640bn came from 16 Commonwealth countries. These losses dwarf the external debts of ‘just’ $190bn for the 33 countries.”

The Queen is known to take a particular interest in her crown dependencies and overseas territories, which operate as largely self-governing jurisdictions. UK ministers have long been aware of the reputational risks of association with pariah tax havens but have frequently looked the other way, claiming their constitutional powers to intervene are negligible.  Does the UK Lead Financial Secrecy Havens