KING Charles seems to have fired a subtle dig at Rishi Sunak during an international climate summit, following a diplomatic row about the Parthenon Marbles.
Old Karolos, known as a staunch Philhellene, appears to have waded into the controversy by wearing a snazzy Greek tie during his speech at COP28 in Dubai on Friday.
It comes after the Prime Minister threw a tantrum and cancelled a meeting with his Greek counterpart when Kyriakos Mitsotakis rehearsed Greece’s long-standing position that the Parthenon sculptures held in the British Museum should be returned.
They were lifted from Athens by Lord Elgin and the Greeks maintain he nicked them and recently compared the incomplete collection held at the Acropolis Museum to the Mona Lisa being torn in half.
Worth looking closely, the King today, wearing a Greek flag tie at COP, after days of a simmering diplomatic row btw UK and Greek PM 👀👀👀 pic.twitter.com/CEwaFmBYW4
— Laura Kuenssberg (@bbclaurak) December 1, 2023
King Charles’s choice of tie looks to have been a nod to the controversy, and given his father’s Greek roots, he may well feel strongly about the matter.
In comments that were in no way referring to the Prime Minister’s height, Keir Starmer hit out at the “smallness” of Sunak’s politics over his very brief trip to the climate conference.
He said: “I think that an event like this is an opportunity for a prime minister of the United Kingdom to show a seriousness, to show leadership, to want to lead on the global stage on issues which are really important to our country.
“For the Prime Minister to reduce this down in the way that he does, the smallness of his politics is becoming a feature of his politics.
“We saw it with the Greek prime minister. We saw it with some of the lines that he was putting out about eco zealots as he got on the plane to come here.”
For his part, the PM has insisted the UK can “stand tall” on the global stage.
The Greek Reporter news site said the tie is believed to have been bought at the Pagoni Maison des Cravates, an upmarket boutique in Kolonaki, Athens.
He also wore it during a visit from the South Korean President in London last week, before the row broke out – so perhaps he just thinks it suits him ...
The Queen’s fashion choices were often subjected to tabloid tea-leaf reading – but any clues her clothes revealed about her true feelings were rarely as blatant as Charlie’s choices at COP
