British bookie suspends bets on Queen's abdication

Britain's Queen Elizabeth has said she would devote her entire life to service - but a British bookie has suspended bets on her abdication after a "rush of bets". Photo / AP

A British bookmaker says it has stopped taking bets on the Queen announcing her abdication in her Christmas Day message after receiving "a rush of bets".

Coral insisted it was not a marketing stunt, saying: "These gambles tend to resurface, especially around the Royal Family."

It was offering odds of 10-1 on the Queen announcing her abdication in the Christmas broadcast and said it received a handful of bets today, including one of £200 (NZ$404).

Other bookmakers said they had not taken any bets on the Queen giving up her position and the Royal Household dismissed the speculation.

Fellow bookie William Hill said it had not taken any abdication bets but had cut odds on the Queen announcing any time before midnight on December 31 that she is abdicating from 15-1 to 5-1, "just in case there's something in the rumour".

A spokeswoman for Ladbrokes said: "We do not offer odds on the Queen to abdicate as many people will interpret that as you taking bets on her death. Something which is quite clearly incredibly distasteful."

The Coral spokesman said: "Throughout the year there has been major speculation about the Queen's future but today's gamble has really caught us by surprise.

"As far as we are concerned, there's no smoke without fire when bets like this come through all in succession, so we have decided to be safe rather than sorry and pull the plug on the market."

But a source close to the Royal Household said they would "point people to the two declarations that the Queen made first of all on her 21st birthday and secondly on her coronation on the second of June 1953".

In a speech in 1947 on her 21st birthday the Queen said: "I declare before you all that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service."

In 1953 she said: "I have in sincerity pledged myself to your service, as so many of you are pledged to mine. Throughout all my life and with all my heart I shall strive to be worthy of your trust."

-AAP