Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Minister suggests the King can decide to attend Cop27 if he wishes

King Charles III (Kirsty O’Connor/PA)
King Charles III (Kirsty O’Connor/PA)

A minister has suggested the King can make his own decision on whether to attend an international climate conference in Egypt, amid reports that the Prime Minister advised the monarch not to attend.

Liz Truss reportedly objected to King Charles III attending Cop27, due to take place in Sharm el-Sheikh next month.

Speaking during a series of broadcast interviews on Friday morning, climate minister Graham Stuart said “where King Charles decides to go, I think is very much up to him”, but added that “ministers doubtless would advise”.

But Mr Stuart also said that he did not know if the report of the Prime Minister’s intervention was correct.

Buckingham Palace has confirmed that Charles will not be attending the international gathering, despite his long-standing commitment to environmental issues.

The Sunday Times reported that the decision not to go was taken after the Prime Minister raised objections during an audience with the monarch at the Palace last month.

“It’s been clear this is a decision that has been made consensually between the King and the Government,” Levelling Up Secretary Simon Clarke said earlier this week.

Any suggestion that the King was “ordered to stay away” are “simply not true”, Mr Clarke said.

Ms Stuart, asked when asked about the reports, said on Friday: “Where King Charles decides to go, I think is very much up to him.”

Asked again if the reports were correct, he said: “I don’t know.”

Graham Stuart
Graham Stuart (Victoria Jones/PA)

And then challenged over whether he as climate minister would like the King to go, Mr Stuart said: “I don’t think it’s for ministers … to be telling the King what he should or shouldn’t do.”

Asked again about the reports when speaking on LBC, Mr Stuart said: “I don’t. I can’t comment on that.

“Whether the King, Charles, goes to Sharm (el-Sheikh)… would have thought would be up to him, although ministers doubtless would advise.”

By convention, all overseas official visits by members of the royal family are undertaken in accordance with advice from the Government.

Before he ascended the throne, there had been speculation that, as Prince of Wales, Charles would go to Egypt, having addressed the Cop26 summit in Glasgow the previous year.