• Prince Charles will not attend the COP27 climate change conference, Buckingham Palace says.
• A story in the Sunday Times claimed Prime Minister Liz Truss had “ordered” the King not to attend.
• He has previously made a speech at the event via video link from the UK, via the Queen and the Royal Envoy for ENIE.

Buckingham Palace has confirmed that King Charles will not attend the COP27 climate change conference, which will be held in Egypt next month. It was in response to a Sunday Times report that Prime Minister Liz Truss had “ordered” the King not to attend.

According to the Palace, the King sought and received advice from Ms Truss.

“With mutual friendship and respect, it was agreed that the King would not attend,” according to the Palace.

The King – then the Prince of Wales – had indicated his intention to attend the annual conference before his accession to the throne last month.

According to royal correspondent Jonny Dymond, the King must be personally disappointed given his long decades of passionate environmental campaigning.

The Palace, however, responded that the King was not uncomfortable, and that he was always mindful of the sovereign’s role to act on the advice of the government.

Last November, as Prince Charles, the King travelled to Egypt with the permission of the Egyptian government to encourage the Egyptian administration to continue its efforts, meeting President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi during a planned visit.

The King has previously demonstrated his strong commitment to environmental issues, and as Prince of Wales, he has a long history of campaigning to mitigate the effects of climate change.

He gave a speech at the COP26 opening ceremony in Glasgow last year, when the UK hosted the summit. The late Queen also delivered a speech via video link at the event.

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Tobias Ellwood, a senior Conservative MP, said he hoped “common sense would prevail” and the King would be allowed to travel to Egypt.

In a tweet, he said King Charles was a “globally-respected voice” on the environment whose presence would give the British delegation “serious authority.”

Last year at the COP26 conference, King Charles – or Prince Charles as he was known at the time – was one of the main attractions, delivering a passionate call for world leaders to take a “war-like stance” on climate change.

This year, he’ll have to keep his powder dry after what appears to be a conflict-free agreement that he shouldn’t go.

However, it should be noted that this is about not attending “in person,” which may leave the door open for other virtual contributions.

There will inevitably be speculation that, despite all of the constitutional wrangling, the King has been deeply disappointed. For decades, he has campaigned on environmental issues with his heart on his sleeve.

It may also increase the possibility of early tensions between a new King and a new Prime Minister.

But it’s a different role with different rules, and the King has always known that as sovereign, he’d have to act within a different set of politically neutral constraints.

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