The new King has taken time from his busy schedule to catch-up with world leaders, with one in particular catching Guido’s attention. On a call yesterday to Emmanuel Macron, the French President committed to working with Charles to deal with common challenges “starting with the protection of the climate and the planet“. Co-conspirators will of course be aware of Charles’s meddling record on the environment and this does not augur well for the continued neutrality of the constitutional monarchy. From now on Charles should restrict his political views to his conversations with his plants. The King seems to be under the illusion that his environmental ideas are non-political…

Throughout the day we’ve been preparing for a rare PM-royalty showdown, as Boris is scheduled to meet with Prince Charles at CHOGM today after he briefed two papers he hates the government’s Rwanda deportation policy. In a pool interview the PM spoke bluntly of his plans to defend the policy in front of the Prince, despite it not “[coming] up so far”.

“People need to keep an open mind about the policy – the critics need to keep an open mind, I think a lot of people can see its obvious merits – and yeah of course if I’m seeing the prince tomorrow I’m going to make that point.

You’ll defend it if he raises it?

“Yeah I mean it hasn’t come up so far but of course.”

After this rather blunt statement on the usually private topic of Prime Ministerial discussions with the Royal Family, however, according to Chris Ship of ITV both camps are now pro-actively briefing that the Rwanda policy will not come up in tomorrow’s discussions.

NEW: Prince Charles and Boris Johnson trying to diffuse the growing row over the Rwanda asylum seeker plan.
After the PM said this morning he would defend the plan in his face-to-face meeting with Charles on Friday - NOW both sides say the topic WON’T come up in their talks 🤔

— Chris Ship (@chrisshipitv) June 23, 2022

Did Charles’s team finally realise that actually an unelected prince dictating government policy on a topic that probably doesn’t affect him or any of his rural idylls probably isn’t a good look for the Royals?

For some reason broadcast cameras were back filming Cabinet this morning as Boris made a speech on the government’s Rwanda deportation policy ahead of tonight’s* first flight. We have just learnt from action in the Supreme Court that after much legal skirmishing by lefty lawyers, one lucky migrant is due to be flown all expenses-paid by private jet to Rwanda. One eyebrow-raising line came right at the end of his scene setter for the Cabinet as the PM noted “some of the criticism” being levelled at the policy is coming from “slightly unexpected quarters”. Whoever could he be thinking of? 

Over the weekend it emerged Boris and Prince Charles’s relationship hasn’t just been strained because of his unwarranted intervention over illegal immigration. According to sources such is the PM’s animus towards the progressive heir to the throne “he struggled to come up with anything positive to say” when sitting down to film a pre-emptive BBC eulogy to be used in the event of his death.

“He told aides before the interview that he did not like Charles and made a series of jokes instead, paying tribute to his Duchy Organic biscuits.

He joked that Charles was the “king of biscuits” and said he feared that he would “take the recipe to his grave”.”

In return, Charles’s courtiers have briefed Johnson had disrespected the Prince by arriving for a visit to his Scottish Highlighands home in a “shambolic state” and appearing “distracted”. That’s normal for Boris, was the Prince expecting special treatment? No doubt the illegal migration crisis really affects millionaire Charles’s ability to access public services up in the Scottish Highlands…

He’s just repeating himself on his environmental crusade at this point…