The Queen has been recorded on camera
making unguarded comments about Chinese officials just hours after David
Cameron was caught on a microphone criticising Nigeria and Afghanistan.
The gaffe occurred during a garden party hosted by the Queen at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday.The Queen was speaking to Police Commander Lucy D’Orsi, who was recounting a meeting she had with Chinese officials ahead of President Xi Jinping's visit to the UK last year.
When told that the Chinese officials had threatened to cancel the visit, the Queen responded: "They were very rude to the ambassador".
Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond confirmed the Chinese state visit "got a bit stressful on both sides".
Speaking on a visit to Gibraltar, Mr Hammond said: "Big state visits are big logistic challenges.
"But it was a great state visit - everybody agrees, hugely successful - and our relationship with China is very strong and has been greatly strengthened by the success of that visit."
Sky News Royal Correspondent Rhiannon Mills says it’s "unusual" to hear the Queen talking about diplomatic matters.
"It’s worth pointing out that the person filming this exchange was Peter Wilkinson who is a cameraman based at Buckingham Palace.
"He is always the one that will film… the Queen's engagements. Maybe she was feeling very relaxed in that environment."
The Queen's remarks come after Nigeria and Afghanistan criticised comments made by the Prime Minister as "unfair" and "embarrassing" after Mr Cameron was overheard describing the two countries as "fantastically corrupt".
Mr Cameron was caught on microphone ahead of an anti-corruption summit describing Nigeria and Afghanistan as "possibly two of the most corrupt countries in the world" to the Queen.
The PM was seemingly unaware his conversation with the Queen - in front of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the House of Commons Speaker John Bercow - was being recorded.
He said: "We had a very successful Cabinet meeting this morning, talking about our anti-corruption summit.
"We have got the Nigerians - actually we have got some leaders of some fantastically corrupt countries coming to Britain.
: Was Cameron's Corruption 'Gaffe' Deliberate?
In the wake of the gaffe, Mr Cameron has been accused of failing to recognise "important progress" made by the two countries in their efforts against corruption.
Garba Shehu, a spokesman for Nigerian President Buhari, said: "This is embarrassing to us, to say the least, given the good work that the President is doing.
"The eyes of the world are on what is happening here. The Prime Minister must be looking at an old snapshot of Nigeria
The Afghan embassy also questioned the accuracy of Mr Cameron's description, telling Sky News: "President Ghani and his government since in office have taken major steps to fight corruption.
"Countering corruption is a top priority along security issues for the National Unity Government. Therefore calling Afghanistan in that way ... is unfair."
