Following the video in which the Queen has been caught on camera saying Chinese officials were “very rude” during last year’s state visit by President Xi Jinping, BBC’s coverage of the comments were censored in China.
The BBC World News blanked out during a report on the conversation in which Her Majesty spoke with a senior police officer at a Buckingham Palace garden party on Tuesday 10th May.
The Queen’s remarks were caught on tape as she was introduced to Metropolitan Police Commander Lucy D’Orsi, who the monarch is told had overseen security during President Xi’s visit to the UK in October.
The invitation to President Xi was part of the UK government’s policy of securing Chinese investment.
At the party marking HM The Queen’s 90th birthday, a discussion took place about the treatment given by Chinese officials during the visit to Britain’s ambassador to China.
The police official went on to tell the Queen that Commander D’Orsi had been “seriously, seriously undermined by the Chinese, but she managed to hold her own and remain in command”.
Commander D’Orsi told the Queen: “I was the Gold Commander so I’m not sure whether you knew, but it was quite a testing time for…”
“I did,” the Queen said.
Commander D’Orsi continued: “It was at the point they walked out of Lancaster House and told me that the trip was off, that I felt…”
The Queen said: “They were very rude to the ambassador.”
Commander D’Orsi replied: “They were… it was very rude and undiplomatic I thought.”
The Queen described it as “extraordinary”.
She is heard to respond: “Oh, bad luck.”
A Buckingham Palace spokesman later said: “We do not comment on the Queen’s private conversations.
“However, the Chinese State Visit was extremely successful and all parties worked closely to ensure it proceeded smoothly.”
At the time of the visit, the Queen hailed it as a “milestone” and declared Anglo-Chinese ties were being taken to “ambitious” new heights.
President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan were honoured with a state banquet at Buckingham Palace, hosted by the Queen.
This came after David Cameron was overheard saying Afghanistan and Nigeria were “fantastically corrupt”.
Earlier at Buckingham Palace, the prime minister David Cameron was filmed at making unguarded comments about Nigeria and Afghanistan.
Talking about this week’s anti-corruption summit in London, he said: “We’ve got some leaders of some fantastically corrupt countries coming to Britain. Nigeria and Afghanistan, possibly the two most corrupt countries in the world.”
The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby stepped in to intervene saying: “But this particular president is not corrupt. He’s trying very hard.” before Speaker John Bercow said: “They are coming at their own expense, one assumes?”
It’s believed that the archbishop was referring to Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari, who won elections last year promising to fight widespread corruption.
Mr Buhari said he was “shocked” by the prime minister’s comments, while a senior Afghan official said the characterisation was “unfair”.
