Cambridge ponders rebuff to the Queen

WITH THE utmost discretion, Cambridge University has indicated that it no longer wants the Queen to play a role in its affairs.

By centuries-old tradition, a handful of top professorships at Cambridge are are Crown appointments. The reality is that Downing Street, rather than Her Majesty, consults academics inside and outside Cambridge and decides who should, or should not, become a regius professor at the university.

Though few will admit it publicly, some dons believe that the procedure is archaic and are unhappy at the possibility of political interference. Professor Sir David Williams, the vice- chancellor, will say only that the university wants the procedures re-examined and that 'we are standing by for discussion'.

He added: 'We have told Downing Street and they have been very friendly. The council of senate here is aware of the situation but has taken no firm position.'

The appointments originated in 1502, when Lady Margaret, mother of Henry VII, established the divinity professorships at Cambridge and Oxford. Cambridge still pays the annual stipend, now worth about pounds 10. At Cambridge, five more regius professorships were endowed by Henry VIII in 1540.

The latest Crown appointment was that of Professor Gillian Beer to the King Edward VII chair of English literature. She takes up her position in October.

Cambridge has six regius professorships in all; Oxford (which is not planning any changes) has eight. Such chairs are rare outside Oxbridge: London and Durham do not have any, but Edinburgh does.

Sir David stressed that he had no complaints about the people appointed to the chairs. 'I think personally that if the result is good, one approves of the procedure.'

Sir Keith Peters, appointed in 1987 as the regius professor of physic at Cambridge, said it was reasonable that the person appointed to the job, which involved responsibility for 'great chunks' of the university, should be appointed in a wide- ranging way. 'But there must be good grounds for thinking about whether this should be a Crown, rather than a university, appointment. These are posts critical to a university, and why should academic freedom be abrogated?'

some people took the view that the Prime Minister's involvement helped to get a wider field of candidates, he added.

There have been several notable rows over regius chairs. In 1957, Harold Macmillan, then prime minister, asked his friend Lewis Namier, a distinguished retired historian, to recommend someone for the regius chair of modern history at Oxford. Namier rang A J P Taylor, the historian, and said he would put his name forward, but only if Taylor gave up popular journalism and broadcasting. Taylor refused, put the phone down and the two never spoke again. Hugh Trevor- Roper, now Lord Dacre, got the job; Macmillan was accused of bias because Taylor was a left-wing CND supporter while Trevor-Roper was a High Tory.

Downing Street would not comment beyond explaining: 'These appointments are of very ancient origin, and the holder is expected to be of the utmost distinction.' If the Queen was ever inclined to take more than a passing interest in the process, she could always seek advice from her husband. The Duke of Edinburgh is chancellor of Cambridge.