Chinese officials were “very rude” during President Xi Jinping’s state visit to the UK last year and threatened to end his tour early, according to an exchange between Queen Elizabeth and a senior London police commander.
The conversation, inadvertently filmed by a royal cameraman and available online, occurred at a Buckingham Palace garden party on Tuesday. It began when the Queen was introduced to Commander Lucy D’Orsi and informed that she had been the police officer in charge during Mr Xi’s visit.
“Oh, bad luck,” the Queen said. She added later that “[Chinese officials] were very rude to the ambassador”, referring to her representative in Beijing, Barbara Woodward.