King Charles III has decided to not attend the international climate change summit in Egypt next month, fueling speculation that the brand new monarch can have to rein in his environmental activism now that he has ascended the throne.
The Sunday Times newspaper reported that the choice got here after Conservative Prime Minister Liz Truss objected to Charles attending the conference, referred to as COP27, when she met with the king last month at Buckingham Palace.
While there was no official rebuttal, other British media quoted unidentified palace and government sources as saying that Charles made his decision after consultation with the prime minister and that any suggestion of disagreement was unfaithful.
Under the principles that govern Britain’s constitutional monarchy, the king is barred from interfering in politics. By convention, all official overseas visits by members of the royal family are undertaken in accordance with advice from the federal government and a choice like this may have resulted from consultation and agreement.
Before becoming king when Queen Elizabeth II died on Sept. 8, there had been speculation Charles would travel to the summit within the role he then held as Prince of Wales.
Charles attended the previous climate summit,COP26, last yr in Glasgow, Scotland, but his attendance at this yr’s conference was never confirmed. COP27 is happening Nov. 16-18 within the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.
When he was Prince of Wales, Charles was accused of meddling in government affairs, including allegations that he inappropriately lobbied government ministers.
But Charles is now king, and he has acknowledged that he can have less freedom to talk out on public issues as monarch than he did because the heir to the throne. At the identical time, his advisers can be in search of the suitable time and place for Charles’ first overseas trip as sovereign.
“My life will, after all, change as I take up my latest responsibilities,” Charles said in a televised address after his mother’s death.
“It’ll not be possible for me to present a lot of my time and energies to the charities and issues for which I care so deeply. But I do know this essential work will go on within the trusted hands of others.”
© 2022 The Canadian Press
