LONDON (Portal) – Britain’s King Charles will not attend a climate summit of world leaders in Egypt next month, a royal source said on Sunday, as the new monarch steps down from his previous high-profile campaign roles.
Buckingham Palace asked the government for advice on the UN COP27 summit and it was unanimously agreed that it would not be right for Charles to visit him in person for his first trip abroad as sovereign, the source said.
There was no confirmation Charles would attend the meeting before he became king after the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth, last month, the source said.
Charles was speaking at the opening ceremony of the COP26 summit in Glasgow in 2021, which he described as the “limo of last chance” to save the world from climate change after the Queen withdrew on the advice of doctors.
The Sunday Times newspaper reported that Charles had been told by new Prime Minister Liz Truss not to travel to Egypt, which had put an end to his plans to speak at the conference.
The newspaper quoted a Downing Street source as saying a recent meeting between Charles and Truss had been cordial and there had been no argument.
The new king championed the environment and other issues as an heir, but said last month it was no longer possible to “devote so much time and energy to the charities and causes that are so close to my heart”.
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(Reporting by Michael Holden; Writing by William Schomberg; Editing by Nick Macfie)