King Charles III (74) met the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen (64), at Windsor Castle for tea. Britain and the EU had previously reached an agreement on the Northern Ireland Protocol. According to “bbc.com”, Buckingham Palace said the meeting between the British monarch and von der Leyen was arranged on the advice of the government. Nevertheless, there were apparently also critical voices who warned that the king was being drawn into a political dispute.
After the meeting, it was not only discussed on social media whether Charles was giving up his political neutrality. According to the BBC report, MP Jacob Rees-Mogg (53), for example, said it was “constitutionally unwise” to involve the king in a political controversy. Prime Minister’s spokesman Rishi Sunak (42) compared the king’s tea time with von der Leyen to other meetings of Charles III. in recent times. Among other things, he had exchanged views with international politicians such as Polish President Andrzej Duda (50) or Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj (45).
“We don’t go into detail as to what discussions we have or have not had with the Palace, but it is customary for the Government to advise the Palace on things like visits and meetings,” the UK Government spokesman said, according to bbc.com. He went on to say that the prime minister “strongly believes that it is up to the king to make these decisions.”
Buckingham Palace said the King is delighted to meet world leaders when they visit Britain “and it is the advice of the Government that he should do so”. Von der Leyen described the meeting at Windsor Castle with tea and a handshake for the photographers on Twitter as “an honor and a pleasure”.
