Britain's Queen Elizabeth has been caught on camera saying Chinese officials were "very rude" during a state visit to Britain by President Xi Jinping.
She was speaking at a garden party at Buckingham Palace yesterday, the same day that British Prime Minister David Cameron was filmed making undiplomatic remarks to her about corruption in Nigeria and Afghanistan.
Mr Cameron called Nigeria and Afghanistan "possibly the two most corrupt countries in the world" in inadvertently public remarks, but hailed their leaders' planned attendance at an anti-corruption summit in London.
David Cameron calls Nigeria and Afghanistan "possibly the two most corrupt countries in the world"https://t.co/zuaFbDE0G1
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) May 11, 2016
He was caught on camera making the remarks to Queen Elizabeth II and Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby at an event at Buckingham Palace.
"We've got some leaders of some fantastically corrupt countries coming to Britain," Mr Cameron said, referring to the anti-corruption summit he is hosting tomorrow.
"Nigeria and Afghanistan, possibly the two most corrupt countries in the world," he said.
Archbishop Welby, who worked as an oil executive in West Africa before joining the church and who has also undertaken conflict resolution work in Nigeria, noted that "this particular president is actually not corrupt".
"He's really trying," Mr Cameron agreed, and the queen noted to the archbishop: "He is trying, isn't he?"
It was not clear to whom they were referring, but Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari and Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani are both due to attend the summit.
Mr Buhari has embarked on a widespread anti-corruption campaign since taking office one year ago, and is due to give a speech on the issue in London today.
The queen's remarks may not be helpful to the British government's determined efforts to boost trade ties with China.
British Queen caught on camera saying Chinese government officials were "very rude" https://t.co/UKQBzVs6RKhttps://t.co/ABFjXxJjOR
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) May 11, 2016
Under her constitutional role, the 90-year-old monarch never makes any politically or diplomatically sensitive comments in public, and it is rare for the content of her private conversations to be revealed.
In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said President Xi's visit to Britain last year had been "extremely successful" and both countries' officials had made great efforts to that end.
In footage broadcast by the BBC, the queen is seen meeting senior police officer Lucy D'Orsi, who is introduced by an official as having been in charge of security during Mr Xi's visit in October.
"Oh, bad luck," the queen says in response.
Commander D'Orsi then describes her dealings with Chinese officials as "quite a testing time" and recounts that at one point they had walked out of a meeting and told her "the trip was off".
The queen says: "They were very rude to the ambassador."
