King Charles III receives the head of the European Commission Von der Leyen

Von der Leyen had previously announced an agreement with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in the long-standing dispute over the Brexit rules for Northern Ireland. Both had emphasized that the agreement heralds a new chapter in relations between the EU and Britain after the Brexit quarrels.

Von der Leyen posted a photo of the meeting with the monarch on Twitter. She can be seen shaking hands with the king. Both smile warmly at each other. The meeting covered, among other things, support for Ukraine and the fight against global warming, the head of the EU commission wrote.

The agreement with the EU is politically controversial. Brexit hardliners such as former Prime Minister Boris Johnson and politicians from the Northern Ireland Protestant Party had warned Sunak not to make concessions to the EU. It is therefore experienced as inconvenient that the king had a meeting with the head of the EU commission immediately after the announcement of the agreement. In Britain, the monarch normally steers clear of issues considered partisan. Critics complained that Sunak wanted to use the king to lend more legitimacy to his deal with the EU, violating the country’s constitutional principles.

Ex-BBC Royal pundit Peter Hunt described the meeting as a “serious misjudgment by King Charles and his advisers”. The king had strayed from his unifying role in an ill-advised attempt to present himself as a statesman. He added: “Someone will have to pay for that.”

(SDA)

Source: Blick