Ex Prime Minister Boris Johnson reportedly wanted “revenge” on King Charles, when he was the Prince of Wales, over a comment he made. In the upcoming book Power and the Palace: the Inside Story of the Monarchy and 10 Downing Street, author Valentine Low addresses a source of tension between Mr Johnson and Charles in 2022.
This tension came after Mr Johnson launched a plan in April 2022 to tackle illegal migration. As Prime Minister at the time, Mr Johnson’s plan was to send people who arrived in the UK illegally to Rwanda, where they could then apply for asylum.
The plan was extremely controversial, with many people criticising it right from the start.
Among the critics was King Charles, who was the Prince of Wales at the time, who reportedly called the plan “appalling”, and was frustrated by it as he was set to represent Queen Elizabeth II at the Commonwealth summit in the Rwandan capital, Kigali, later that month.
Author Valentine Low said that Charles’ comment was going to feature in a story in The Times, with Buckingham Palace wanting to do all they could to stop the story getting worse, especially as it portrayed Charles moaning about a policy that could solve the migration crisis.
At the time, The Home Office took steps to stop a row between the government and Charles, however Low claims that Mr Johnson was “plotting his revenge” on the royal for his comment.
As reported by The Times, Low said that Clarence House – who was in charge of Charles’ communication – wanted a picture of Charles and Mr Johnson shaking hands ahead of the Commonwealth heads of government meeting in Kigali to stop news of a tension spreading.
While this did happen, with Charles and Mr Johnson snapped smiling and shaking hands, Mr Johnson did manage to keep the story of Charles’ criticism of the Rwanda plan – which also featured on the Mail Online website – going.
This is because on the plane to Rwanda, Mr Johnson told journalists he hoped to help others “shed some of their condescending attitudes towards Rwanda”.
While he didn’t mention Charles, Downing Street’s former director of communications Guto Harri said the comment was “a dig at Charles, without mentioning Charles”.
He said: “Charles had slagged off a key and difficult policy decision. Boris is not a man to let that go. He does not get angry or upset, but he gets even. I remember Boris telling me once, ‘I fear no man’. But it was slightly playful as well: I think he was enjoying [Charles’s] discomfort.”
The situation was believed to be difficult for the Palace, with royals usually believed to be advised not to publicly express political views.
