Queen in 'rude Chinese' storm: Private remarks broadcast by BBC as China censors news reports

The Queen was at the centre of a growing storm today after being caught on camera describing Chinese government officials as “very rude”.

Her private remarks were recorded by a TV cameraman authorised by the Palace to cover the event and then broadcast by the BBC.

China responded by censoring BBC reports of the remark and blocking web pages carrying news of the incident.

Crispin Blunt, the chairman of the parliament’s influential Foreign Affairs Committee (FAC), said “Someone has stuffed up.

Her Majesty described Chinese officials as "very rude"

“The Queen should never have been put into the position of having that tape broadcast. It is obviously very unhelpful.”

The Queen’s unusually unguarded comment was made at a Buckingham Palace garden party held as part of celebrations of her 90th birthday.

She was introduced to Met police Commander Lucy D’Orsi and on learning that her guest was Gold Commander in charge of security during the State Visit by president Xi Jinping last October the Monarch interjected, “Oh, bad luck!”

The conversation turned to the behaviour of Chinese officials who, an official told the Queen, had “seriously undermined” Ms D’Orsi. The Met officer asked the Queen is she knew it had been “a testing time”, and she replied: “I did.”

The Queen greets guests at the Buckingham Palace garden party
AP

When Ms D’Orsi then described an incident in which the Chinese walked out of a meeting at Lancaster House with Barbara Woodward, the British ambassador to China, the Queen remarked: They were very rude to the ambassador.”

Speaking in Beijing, Lu Kang, a spokesman for China’s foreign ministry, said the visit of Xi had been “very successful”.

But pressed by the Guardian to say that the new “golden era” of Anglo-Chinese relations was alive, Lu replied elliptically: “Both sides have expressed the hope that they would implement the outcomes of president Xi’s visit and push forwards a steady and stable rise of the bilateral relationship. This requires the common efforts of both sides.”

Astonishingly, it was the second almost identical such incident within 24 hours involving unguarded comments.

In the first, David Cameron was heard describing Nigeria as “incredibly corrupt” in a conversation with the Queen and the Archbishop of Canterbury.

The Queen shares a toast with President of China Xi Jinping in October last year
Getty

Both were picked up by the Palace cameraman, Peter Wilkinson, a former ITN staffer who now provides pooled footage of Royal events shared by major broadcasters.

The latest incident is far more potentially damaging. While Nigeria is a poor country that depends on UK aid, China is the planet’s fastest growing superpower and set to overtake America as the world’s largest economy.

Mike Gapes, a senior Labour member of the FAC, said: “The Chinese are incredibly prickly. They will not react well, that’s clear from their censorship of the incident.

“There is a danger it could undermine the narrative that the government has created that China and Britain are new best friends.”

There was no comment from Chancellor George Osborne who has led efforts to attract billions of pounds worth of Chinese investment into UK infrastructure, and to make the City a global centre for trading in the Chinese currency.

Downing Street officials and the Metropolitan Police also declined to discuss the incident.

A palace spokeswoman said: “We do not comment on the Queen’s private conversations. However, the Chinese State Visit was extremely successful and all parties worked closely to ensure it proceeded smoothly.”

It is not the first time a member of the British royal family has ruffled feathers with the Chinese.

The Prince of Wales branded Chinese diplomats “appalling old waxworks” in a private journal entry about the Hong Kong handover ceremony in 1997.

And the Duke of Edinburgh infamously told a group of British exchange students staying in the city of Xian in 1986: “If you stay here much longer you’ll all be slitty-eyed.”

Lord Campbell of Pittenweem, the former Liberal Democrat leader, said the Queen had “gone out of her way” to avoid such controversy.

“I think there will be a kind of post mortem at the Palace,” he said. “It is damaging, but probably only marginally.”

He added: “I cannot imagine that the Palace has been anything other than irritated. I think there will be irritation too in the Government because George Osborne has gone out of his way to establish good relations with China

“And of course the Chinese are looking as a consequence of this better relationship to have a lot of investment here in the UK.

“I don’t think there will be any lasting damage but it is an irritation that people could do without.”

Labour former minister Barry Sheerman tweeted: “Did the Queen say anything wrong? In any relationship there will be frank exchanges but we still need strong links with China.”

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