Clean steps surrounding queen (7)
I believe the answer is:
sterile
'clean' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'steps surrounding queen' is the wordplay.
'steps' becomes 'stile' (I've seen this in other clues).
'surrounding' is an insertion indicator.
'queen' becomes 'er' (abbreviation for Elizabeth Regina).
'stile' enclosing 'er' is 'STERILE'.
(Other definitions for sterile that I've seen before include "Not able to produce offspring" , "Uninspired" , "Ineffective" , "Like theatre" , "Free from living micro-organisms, absolutely clean" .)