The Queen‘s private secretary Sir Edward Young has reportedly been in close contact with Cabinet Secretary Simon Case since Boris Johnson announced his resignation outside 10 Downing Street last Thursday. Sir Edward has been assured the UK’s top civil servant will vet any recommendations that are not deemed to be suitable before forwarding them onto the Palace. 

A royal insider told the i newspaper: “Sir Edward is aware of the unusual circumstances around any resignation honours proposed by Mr Johnson and he has been assured that every effort will be made to avoid any embarrassment to her Majesty.”

The Buckingham Palace source also said Sir Tom Scholar, permanent secretary at the treasury and chair of the Honours Committee, is “keeping a close eye” on any recommendations made by the Prime Minister before they are passed on.

The official added: “The key to any recommendations is that they do not put Her Majesty in a difficult position.”

It has already been confirmed by Number 10 that the Prime Minister will proceed with a resignation honours list before he steps down from his role – expected to be before the Conservative Party conference in October.

Opposition parties have said that given the circumstances surrounding his resignation, the tradition should be scrapped on this occasion.

The Liberal Democrats have written to the House of Lords appointments commission and the Cabinet Office honours committee to urge them to consider blocking any honour list from Mr Johnson.

The party, led by Sir Ed Davey, have argued the Prime Minister is too tarnished to be permitted one.

Mr Johnson is reportedly considering rewarding Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries for her loyalty by promoting her to the House of Lords.

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Buckingham Palace is understood to have received a list of potential candidates for honours that almost covered an entire sheet of A4 paper, according to the i newspaper.

In 2016, David Cameron gave eight people a noble rank or title before he resigned following the Brexit referendum, while his replacement Mrs May created 13 peers in 2019.

Last week, it had already been reported that the Queen was preparing to turn down a General Election request from Mr Johnson as he desperately tried to cling on to his troubled premiership.

The Queen’s senior courtiers concluded there were two main reasons for declining any such request from the Prime Minister.

The first was it had become abundantly clear over recent week that Mr Johnson had firmly lost the support of his Parliamentary colleagues.

Despite his claims of a strong mandate from the UK public, this is legally from his MPs that were elected into parliament during the last general election in 2019.

Secondly, the Queen’s advisors had been considering whether the Conservative Party could actually form a Government without having to call a general election, and decided it was.