Britain’s King Charles has been advised not to attend the Cop27 climate summit in Egypt, Downing Street has acknowledged, arguing it is not the “right occasion” for him to make the trip.
Number 10 conceded for the first time on Friday that the king had been urged not to attend the United Nations conference in Sharm El-Sheikh.
King Charles is a long-term campaigner against the climate crisis but Downing Street said it was “unanimously agreed” he would not attend. British prime minister Rishi Sunak has also ruled out going.
Downing Street had previously been refusing to comment on a Sunday Times report that said then prime minister Liz Truss had told the king not to go during a meeting in Buckingham Palace in September.
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But, on Friday, a Number 10 spokeswoman said: “As is standard practice, government advice was sought and provided under a previous PM, and it was unanimously agreed that it would not be the right occasion for the king to visit in person. I’m not aware that that advice has changed but obviously any confirmation of the king’s travel would be for the palace.”
Royal attendees
Earlier in the day, cabinet minister Therese Coffey had said whether the king attended the summit or not was “up to him. I’m conscious that King Charles has always taken a very deep interest in the environment and climate change,” she told Sky News. She said the “big Cops” tended to be every five years, adding that “many members of the royal family” attended the UK summit last year. “But, in between, it tends to be more of a — I’m not going to say low key — but not quite the same level of heads of state and prime ministers attending,” she said.
Charles and his elder son, William, the then-Duke of Cambridge, both spoke at last year’s Cop26 event in Glasgow, while Queen Elizabeth recorded an opening address urging the assembled world leaders to take action on climate change.
Number 10 insisted the British government remained “absolutely committed” to leading international action on the climate issue despite Mr Sunak’s planned absence from Cop27.
Downing Street suggested the public would expect Mr Sunak to be in the country dealing with the “serious economic challenges” facing the UK, rather than at the summit in Egypt.
Former culture secretary Nadine Dorries hit out at the prime minister for choosing not to attend.
She challenged fellow ex-minister Jacob Rees-Mogg on his assertion that Mr Sunak was “right” to miss the summit, tweeting: “For balance, my friend … the Prime Minister is WRONG not to go to COP. Global warming is the biggest crisis facing our planet and net zero creates many 1000s of jobs which is good for the economy. Cop in Glasgow was most successful ever … but don’t expect media to report that.” — PA