Former Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon claims the late Queen Elizabeth II privately asked her for details about sexual misconduct allegations against Alex Salmond during a meeting at Balmoral Castle in 2018.

In her forthcoming autobiography, Frankly, Sturgeon recalls that the monarch brought up the subject "almost as soon as I sat down" during their audience at the royal estate, just weeks after the accusations against Salmond emerged.

"She also loved a bit of gossip," Sturgeon writes. "She wasn't being trivial in any way — she wanted to know more of what was going on."

The allegations against Salmond, who died last October at 69, first surfaced in late August 2018 when the Daily Record reported he was under a Scottish Government investigation following complaints from two female civil servants. The investigation was later ruled unlawful in a judicial review, and Salmond was reimbursed £512,000 in legal costs.

Sturgeon, a self-described republican "at heart and by instinct," praised the Queen as "utterly fascinating" and "an incredible woman" despite her personal views on the monarchy. She said her private conversations with the monarch offered "a window" onto decades of political history.

Other revelations in Sturgeon's 470-page memoir include criticisms of Prince William's office for being "disingenuous" about a 2021 meeting, condemnation of author J.K. Rowling's public jibe over gender reform policies, and recollections of what she called a "bad acid dream" phone call with former U.S. President Donald Trump.

The book, due for official release Thursday, is already on sale in some Waterstones branches in Scotland. Sturgeon is scheduled to discuss it at the Edinburgh Book Festival later this week.

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