Foreign Secretary David Lammy flew in a plane fit for a king last week – but the actual sovereign had to slum it on a commercial flight.
While Mr Lammy took a Government VIP Airbus A321 for his trip to China, King Charles had to hop on a scheduled service from Heathrow to link up with Queen Camilla in Singapore before flying on to Sydney for his visit to and then the Commonwealth meeting in Samoa.
The VIP role reversal comes amid furious denials yesterday of ‘tensions’ between the Palace and Mr Lammy’s office over the recent deal to hand the Chagos islands over to Chinese ally Mauritius.
Both the Palace and the Government strongly denied the allegations – made to The Mail on Sunday by diplomatic sources – with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) even threatening legal action over the claims.
Charles and Camilla did fly an official Royal n Air Force jet from Singapore to Sydney.
An insider said: ‘It was more appropriate for His Majesty, as ‘s Head of State, to arrive on board a Royal n Air Force plane.’
The FCDO insisted last night that the use of the Airbus for Mr Lammy’s Chinese trip was ‘value for money’ and that it published details of its expenditure to ensure transparency.
A spokesman said: ‘The Foreign Secretary’s job requires him to travel abroad to promote and protect the UK’s interests on the global stage.
‘This was the most time effective way to do that in this instance.
‘Value for money is taken into account in all travel decisions and costs are routinely published for transparency.’