Prince Charles has privately found it “appalling” at the British government’s plan to return migrants who arrived illegally in the UK to Rwanda, the daily reported on Saturday. The Timesa few days before the first planned departures.
A source told the newspaper that he had heard the 73-year-old prince several times privately express his opposition to this policy intended to deter illegal crossings of the Channel by ever-increasing numbers of migrants.
“Disappointed with this policy”
The heir to the British crown said he was particularly embarrassed by this subject, fearing that it would overshadow a Commonwealth meeting to be held from June 20 in Rwanda, where he will represent his mother Queen Elizabeth II. “He said he was more than disappointed with this policy,” the unnamed source said. “He said he thought the government’s whole approach was appalling,” she added.
A first flight carrying around 30 asylum seekers who arrived illegally in the United Kingdom is scheduled for Tuesday, after the failure on Friday of the legal action by refugee defense associations. Prime Minister Boris Johnson welcomed the court ruling, saying the strategy would help “break the business model of these ruthless criminals”.
The plaintiffs, including the Care4Calais and Detention Action associations, have however appealed, which will be heard on Monday, on the eve of the first planned departures.
The neutrality of the future king
Clarence House, which manages the communication of prince Charles, did not deny his remarks but insisted on the political neutrality of the heir to the throne. “We do not comment on supposed anonymous private conversations with the Prince of Wales, except to reaffirm that he remains politically neutral. Political issues are decisions for the government,” a spokesperson said.
Although Prince Charles has expressed his opinions on various subjects during his life, his interventions on controversial issues have become rarer in recent years, as he prepares to succeed his mother Elizabeth II, 96 years old. In a 2018 BBC interview, he promised to remain neutral once he became king.