Inside the clash between Boris and Charles

Conversations between the Prime Minister and the monarchy are, by convention, kept strictly confidential – and taken to the grave. But Boris Johnson has always been someone who thinks rules are there to be broken. His former spin chief, Guto Harri, has just confirmed something that they tried to cover up at the time: the extent of the clash between Johnson and now-King Charles. They squared off against each other at a Commonwealth summit, apparently, after Charles described the government’s Rwanda deportation policy as ‘appalling’ within political earshot. At the time, word of Charles’s disapproval leaked out suspiciously quickly – and via Westminster channels. Polls showed strong public approval of the Rwanda policy, so anyone who leaked would have known that this row would likely damage Charles. Even in public, Johnson chose to fuel the story at the Commonwealth summit in Kigali by telling broadcasters that Charles should keep ‘an open mind’.