BUCKINGHAM PALACE

17th May, 1995.

Dear Mr. Pelletier,

I am commanded by The Queen to thank you for your letter of 8th May about the United Kingdom's quarantine laws and their effect on guide dogs.

Her Majesty appreciates receiving views and comments from the many people who write to her, and your particular letter has been carefully noted. I am afraid, though, that while The Queen has a duty and a right to express her views to her Government, her position as a constitutional Sovereign also requires Her Majesty to act on the advice of her Ministers. The Queen would not, therefore, intervene publicly in matters such as the one you have raised, where responsibility rests with Ministers.

Her Majesty understood fully why you felt prompted to write and I am to thank you for doing so. May I add my best wishes for an enjoyable bowling competition in London.

Yours sincerely,
(SIMON GIBSON