Queen tells of ‘very rude’ Chinese officials during Xi Jinping’s UK visit in new diplomatic gaffe
‘Oh, bad luck’, Queen tells police commander in charge of President’s security, who was said to be ‘seriously, seriously undermined by the Chinese’
PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 11 May, 2016, 1:19pm
UPDATED : Wednesday, 11 May, 2016, 3:40pm
Catherine Wong
Queen Elizabeth II has been caught on camera making unguarded comments, saying Chinese officials were “very rude” during the visit of President Xi Jinping in the United Kingdom last October.
[video=youtube;iINGVNqy_YI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iINGVNqy_YI[/video]
The Queen made the remarks during her official introduction with Metropolitan Police Commander Lucy D’Orsi at her first garden party of the year on the lawn of Buckingham Palace on Tuesday. D’Orsi was the officer responsible for security during Xi’s visit.
“Oh, bad luck,” said the Queen, referring to her assignment, according to BBC video footage.
D’Orsi was said to be “seriously, seriously undermined by the Chinese”, when she was introduced to the Queen by the Lord Chamberlain, The Earl Peel, a senior officer of the Royal Household.
During the conversation, the Queen also commented on Chinese officials’ interaction with the British ambassador to China, Barbara Woodward.
“They were very rude to the ambassador,” she said, referring to Woodward, Britain’s first woman ambassador to China.
The conversation was recorded by the Queen’s official cameraman Peter Wilkinson.
Xi’s high-profile visit to the UK last October, during which trade deals worth £30 billion (HK$336bn) were signed, was described by the Queen as a “defining moment” in the future of Sino-UK relations.
