EXLCUSIVE: Boris and Charles had a ‘bust up’ over Rwanda policy ex No 10 media chief claims
Boris Johnson took on Charles after labeling the government’s plan in Rwanda as ‘appalling’, it was alleged last night.
During an extraordinary confrontation last year, the former Prime Minister is said to have approached the then Prince of Wales and warned him about meddling in politics.
The 15-minute standoff at a Commonwealth summit in Rwanda in June followed revelations in the Mail that Charles had privately described the plan to deport Channel migrants to the African state as “appalling.”
At the time No 10 denied there had been any altercation, with Mr Johnson saying only that the two men had had a ‘good old kinwag’. And last night friends of Mr Johnson said he didn’t recognize the account and it was ‘inaccurate’.
In a shocking revelation in a new podcast called Unprecedented, for Global Player, Guto Harri, No 10’s former communications director, says the then prime minister told him he was “going pretty hard” on the future king over his decision to step into the very sensitive political matter.
He also reveals that Mr. Johnson warned Charles against giving a speech expressing regret over slavery, telling him that it could lead to demands for reparations.
The king, when he was Prince of Wales, is said to have labeled the government’s controversial Rwanda plan as ‘appalling’
Boris Johnson took on Charles after labeling the government’s Rwanda plan as ‘appalling’, it was alleged last night
The revelation of the bomb comes from former communications director No. 10 Guto Harri, who made the claim on a new Global Player podcast Unprecedented. Pictured: Mr Johnson and Guto Harri in 2014 at the former prime minister’s book launch
The warning was ignored and the speech continued.
Writing in the Mail today, the former BBC journalist reveals that the meeting between the then prime minister and the future king at the summit of Commonwealth heads of government last year was ‘less amicable’ than had been suggested at the time. Boris said the two had “a good old kinwag” and “covered a lot of ground,” he writes.
What actually happened was less amicable. “I went into it pretty hard,” he told me at the time, essentially facing the prince and confronting him about what he – as an unelected king – had said about the actions of a democratically elected government.
Prince Charles was arrested. He had clearly made some criticism, and while he tried to downplay it, Boris pointed out the obvious: [saying]”If you didn’t say so, we both know your people could call the papers and kill the story.” That they didn’t do that says enough.’
Mr Harri suggests the two men struggled for years to get along, with Charles never forgiving Mr Johnson for being late for a meeting when he was Mayor of London.
He says the arrest in Rwanda was the final straw, adding: “Relations never fully recovered and Charles will be relieved that Boris had left No. 10 before he ascended the throne.”
The revelations threaten to reopen controversy over the extent to which the new king will interfere in politics. As Prince of Wales, Charles was accused of interfering in government affairs, such as with his ‘black spider’ letters to ministers and other officials, which were eventually made public under freedom of information laws.
Mr Harri suggests the two men struggled for years to get along, with Charles never forgiving Mr Johnson for being late for a meeting when he was Mayor of London. Pictured: Then Prince Charles shakes hands with former Prime Minister Boris Johnson in Rwanda 2022
Mr Harri also revealed that Mr Johnson warned Charles against giving a speech expressing regret over slavery, telling him it could lead to demands for reparations.
Five years ago he promised to stop interfering if he became monarch. When asked if he intended to rule in the same interventionist manner as King, he replied, “I’m not that stupid. I do realize that being sovereign is a separate exercise. So of course I understand very well how that should work.’
His intervention in Rwanda last year enraged ministers and came at a time when the government was facing strong criticism from labor and human rights lawyers. Clarence House did not dispute that Charles had privately criticized the plan.
Ministers insist the plan to send Channel migrants to Rwanda to have their asylum applications processed is the only way to break the business model of the criminal gangs who profit from the trafficking of human misery.
But the policy has not yet entered into force, following legal action and an intervention by the European Court of Human Rights.
Last night, sources close to Mr Johnson said: ‘This account is simply inaccurate and does not reflect the conversation that took place. Boris Johnson had nothing to do with this podcast, was not aware of it and regrets any attempt to publicly report such conversations.”
Friends of Mr Johnson added that he strongly disapproved of leaking conversations with the heir to the throne and would never do so himself. Buckingham Palace declined to comment last night. But a royal source said the king was “extremely aware” of his new constitutional role.
Global Player’s new political memoir podcast series, Unprecedented, provides an exclusive first-hand account of Mr Harri’s time as communications director at Downing Street. Each episode will be available exclusively on Global Player every Thursday and every Friday on other platforms.