Get ready to cringe as Boris Johnson and Prince
Charles meet at Rwanda summit
Prince Charles’ first outing as head of the
Commonwealth follows his reported criticism of Boris Johnson’s flagship
immigration policy.
BY ESTHER
WEBBER, ZOYA SHEFTALOVICH AND CRISTINA GALLARDO
June 22,
2022 7:45 pm
https://www.politico.eu/article/uk-boris-johnson-and-prince-charles-meet-at-rwanda-summit/
LONDON —
That awkward moment when you have to play nice with the heir to the throne
who’s reportedly seething at your asylum plans.
Brace for
some weapons-grade discomfort this week as Boris Johnson and Prince Charles
meet in Rwanda for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in
Kigali in the wake of a major row that’s played out in the pages of the U.K.
media.
The British
prime minister and the country’s future monarch will both take part in Friday’s
Commonwealth summit opening ceremony, with Johnson giving a speech.
Both sides
will be hoping a bust-up over Johnson’s controversial plan — currently paused
by the courts — to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda doesn’t overshadow a summit
that marks a major test of diplomatic tact for two men not exactly known for
holding back.
Speaking
ahead of his flight, Johnson said he hoped the summit would be an opportunity
“to shed some of the condescending attitudes towards Rwanda and how that
[migration] partnership might work.”
He added
“it is still the case that no UK court has ruled our our plan unlawful and no
international court has ruled our plan unlawful.”
On whether
he intends to raise the topic with Prince Charles, he said: “All I can say is
that I think that the policy is sensible, measured, and it’s a plan to deal
with the grotesque abuse of people crossing the Channel.”
In an
extraordinary intervention that raised eyebrows in government, the Times
previously reported that Charles had privately described the deportation policy
as “appalling.” Clarence House put out a rare statement not denying the remarks
by the prince but saying it wished to “restate that he remains politically
neutral” and that “matters of policy are decisions for government.”
Cue some
hostile briefing in the other direction, with one Cabinet minister telling the
Sunday Times that Charles “is an adornment to our public life, but that will
cease to be charming if he attempts to behave the same way when he is king.
That will present serious constitutional issues.”
Despite
Clarence House’s assertions, Charles has already shown signs he will be a more
political monarch than his mother, with his strong views on the environment and
urban planning well-known.
But the
latest row could hardly come at a more sensitive time for the Commonwealth, a
54-member association of former British territories, as it faces big questions
over its future.
“The
Commonwealth is a sort of imperial hangover. It was a way of somehow continuing
those relationships after the end of the British empire,” said Hans Kundnani of
the foreign policy think tank Chatham House. “Partly because of that it’s
always going to have this stigma. It’s never quite going to be embraced by some
of these countries unless you radically rethink it.”
It’s
Charles’s first appearance at the Commonwealth summit since taking over its
stewardship from Queen Elizabeth. And it comes as the relationship between the
Commonwealth and the British monarchy looks increasingly frayed.
Countries
that have no colonial ties to the U.K., Gabon and Togo, are applying to join
and Commonwealth realms such as Barbados, Jamaica and Australia are either
opting to remove the monarch as head of state or laying the groundwork to do
so.
Australia
is also making noises about ditching the monarchy altogether.
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