King Charles circumvents Sunak after ‘nightmare’ start to reign

King Charles III has appeared to ‘circumnavigate’ Prime Minister Rishi Sunak through his hosting of a special COP27 reception at Buckingham Palace, a royal commentator has claimed. The monarch welcomed invitees to the palace ahead of the COP27 UN climate change conference kicking off in Egypt on Sunday.Former Prime Minister Liz Truss had requested that the sovereign not attend the conference, and that her successor had maintained that belief, Downing Street confirmed.No 10 said last month it was not the ‘right occasion’ for the monarch to make the trop.King Charles is well known for his vocal campaigning on climate issues, and a source had previously told The Times the monarch was ‘champing at the bit’ to attend the conference.He gave a keynote address at last year’s COP26 event in Glasgow, accompanied by Prince William, Kate, and Camilla. The Prime Minister attended Friday’s reception (Image: Getty) Several prominent figures were invited to the reception (Image: Getty)The sovereign’s reception on Friday included US special envoy for climate, John Kerry, designer and activist Stella McCartney, as well Mr Sunak himself.Following the reception, royal commentator Daniela Elser described the event as the monarch ‘coming dangerously close to publicly defying [the] newbie Prime Minister’.Writing in the New Zealand Herald, she called Friday’s address to gathered NGOs, politicians and activists a ‘crafty’ choice that suggests the sovereign ‘seemingly decided to circumnavigate Sunak by bringing much of the climate meeting to him’.A spokesperson for Number 10 said Mr Sunak had not been in office long enough to make appropriate arrangements for the monarch to travel to the north African country for COP27.READ MORE: PM gives UK extra bank holiday day to mark Charles’s Coronation Charles gave a speech at COP26 in Glasgow (Image: Getty)The spokesperson told the media: ‘We do recognise that had the prime minister been in post earlier, the situation might have been different, but it is not logistically feasible at this late stage.’They added that both the Palace and Downing Street were in ‘unanimous agreement’ that the King would not travel to Sharm-el-Sheikh.Mr Sunak changed his mind last minute earlier this week on his own attendance at COP26.He previously said pressing issues at home prevented him from making the trip.DON’T MISS: Prince Harry and Andrew’s remembrance wreaths dumped from display [LIVE] Prince Harry’s memoir brutally snubbed in poll as majority won’t buy [REVEAL] Should Prince Harry scrap his memoir? POLL [VOTE] Mr Sunak addressed those gathered at the Palace (Image: Getty)The summit has been billed as a “watershed moment” featuring more than 120 global leaders.Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who was in No 10 for the previous conference, said he would be attending the conference at the