Rajeev Syal guardian.co.uk, Monday 17 December 2012 11.58 GMT
No 10 confirms Elizabeth II will sit in on Tuesday's meeting as observer, the first monarch to do so since Queen Victoria
No 10 said the Queen will receive a gift to mark her diamond jubilee at the cabinet meeting. Photograph: Getty Images
The Queen is to attend her first cabinet meeting on Tuesday, as part of the government's diamond jubilee celebrations, No 10 has disclosed.
In honour of her visit, secretaries of state have conducted a ministerial whip-round and bought her a gift, to be presented at the gathering in Downing Street.
The prime minister's spokesman declined to say what the gift might be. He also declined to say whether any ministers failed to contribute.
It will be the first time that a monarch has attended a cabinet meeting since Queen Victoria.
The Queen will be an observer at the 9.15am meeting, which will last approximately 90 minutes and she is expected to sit next to David Cameron.
The foreign secretary, William Hague, or the cabinet secretary, Sir Jeremy Heywood, are likely to be displaced from their usual position around the table.
"This has been long-planned, as part of diamond jubilee celebrations," the prime minister's spokesperson said.
While the Queen is head of state, her involvement in political decisions is formal and at arm's length.
The conventional phrase is that the Queen is "above politics". Walter Bagehot, the 19th century essayist, wrote: "We must not bring the Queen into the combat of politics, or she will cease to be reverenced by all combatants; she will become one combatant among many."
The prime minister visits her regularly for an audience where he updates her on events, while she is also expected to give formal approval of ministerial decisions at meetings of the Privy Council.
The Queen plays a central ceremonial role in the state opening of parliament, when she travels by horse-drawn coach to the House of Lords to read out a speech prepared by ministers announcing details of their legislative plans. She also retains the power to appoint the prime minister.
It is not often that the sovereign sets foot inside No 10. In July, Cameron is believed to have become only the sixth PM to extend a social invitation to the Queen when he asked her and the Duke of Edinburgh to a lunch with four of the 12 prime ministers to have served during her 60-year reign.
The Queen to attend cabinet meeting in Downing Street | UK news | guardian.co.uk
