FOR most people it was just a storm in a teacup, but Baroness Arlene Foster was not happy when King Charles sat down for a brew with EU chief Ursula von der Leyen on Monday.
Ms Foster, pictured below, described the meeting between the two as ‘crass’ and ‘tone-deaf’ as a new post-Brexit deal on the Northern Ireland protocol was also being unveiled at the time.
In a tweet criticising Monday’s get-together, the former DUP leader and first minister of Northern Ireland, said the meeting in Windsor Castle ‘will go down very badly in NI’.
“I cannot quite believe that No 10 would ask HM the King to become involved in the finalising of a deal as controversial as this one. It’s crass and will go down very badly in NI,” Ms Foster tweeted.
“We must remember this is not the King’s decision but the Government who it appears are tone deaf.”
The head of state and President of the European Commission sat down to tea on Monday afternoon where they discussed a range of topics which included climate change and the situation in Ukraine.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s official spokesman defended the meeting between the two.
“It’s not uncommon for His Majesty to accept invitations to meet certain leaders, he has met president Duda and president Zelenskiy recently,” the spokesman said.
Asked why the final protocol talks were taking place in Windsor, he said: “There are a number of occasions when these sorts of talks have been held in significant locations, this is no different.”
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