How China 'tried to smuggle a spy posing as an interpreter into carriage carrying the Queen
during last year's state visit'
- Police commander confirmed incident in new garden party footage
- Man said to have posed as official interpreter to try and board the coach
- Queen's plastic umbrella likely to have acted as amplifier for her comments
- Monarch used as 'pawn' by Chancellor to woo Chinese, ex-official claims
- See more news on The Queen as a Chinese 'spy' tried to board her carriage
Lucy D’Orsi, who was in charge of security for President Xi Jinping’s visit in October, was filmed by the Monarch’s official cameraman saying: ‘Well they also wanted to come in your carriage with the interpreter…’
The Queen appeared to be well-briefed about the incident as she nodded and replied with a firm ‘yes’.
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Unwelcome visitor: A Chinese' spy' tried to get into the Queen's carriage with her during last year's state visit
Lucy D'Orsi, who was in charge of security for President Xi Jinping's visit in October, was filmed by the Monarch's official cameraman saying: 'Well they also wanted to come in your carriage with the interpreter...'
Details of the incident first emerged in The Sunday Times in October, when senior officials connected with the visit revealed that members of the diplomatic protection squad had intercepted the man.
He was posing as an official interpreter and tried to get into the royal carriage as the Queen and President Xi travelled down The Mall to Buckingham Palace after she had officially welcomed him to the UK.
When the ruse was rumbled, it led to a furious exchange. One source said: ‘The bodyguard, or spy, attempted to get in the carriage and was prevented when it was ascertained by our security officials that he was actually a security official rather than the official translator.
‘In other words, they were trying to get someone dodgy into the carriage alongside the president and the Queen.’
A senior Tory added: ‘There was a stand-off and our protection people were shouldered aside. There’s an issue here about bullying, uncomprehending Chinese police. This security should be done by us, not them.’
Commander D’Orsi was a guest at the garden party with her mother and was chosen by Buckingham Palace’s Lord Chamberlain, The Earl Peel, to join a small number of guests introduced to the Queen.
The footage, retrieved by BBC Newsnight, shows them speaking while a military band plays the James Bond theme tune in the background.
Last night a former Foreign Office China analyst said the Queen effectively became a pawn in Chancellor George Osborne’s campaign to woo Beijing.
‘China policy was taken over by George Osborne and a number of people in the Treasury, obviously, with the backing of Number Ten,’ James Richards told Newsnight.
As the possibility of a Chinese State Visit grew, the Queen was pressed into the effort, meeting leading Chinese official Li Keqiang, in 2014. Mr Richards said: ‘When arrangements were being made for Li Keqiang to visit, there was some quite robust remarks about the visit being cancelled if he was not granted an audience with the Queen, for example.
‘It all has to do, I believe, with the culture of a communist bureaucracy where officials are desperately keen to earn brownie points by meeting very senior leaders. ‘
So desperate were the Prime Minister and Mr Osborne for President Xi Jinping’s visit to go smoothly, that they even railroaded senior figures – including Prince Charles – not to meet the Dalai Lama on his trip to the UK in June last year.
This was just a few months before the Chinese presidential visit.
Charles had ‘boycotted’ the last two Chinese state banquets because of his friendship with Tibet’s spiritual leader and what he views as China’s human rights abuses.
But he did agree to meet the Chinese president for afternoon tea at Clarence House, his official London residence, as a sign of willing.
The Queen appeared to be well-briefed about the incident as she nodded and replied with a firm 'yes'
The footage, retrieved by BBC Newsnight, shows them speaking while a military band plays the James Bond theme tune in the background
Details of the incident first emerged in The Sunday Times in October, when senior officials connected with the visit revealed that members of the diplomatic protection squad had intercepted the man
The man was posing as an official interpreter and tried to get into the royal carriage as the Queen and President Xi travelled down The Mall to Buckingham Palace after she had officially welcomed him to the UK
Last night sources told The Daily Telegraph that the Queen’s comments were audible on the TV footage because her clear plastic umbrella had amplified her voice towards the microphone.
‘If she had been holding an umbrella made of fabric, it wouldn’t have happened,’ an insider said.
In Beijing yesterday, a spokesman for China’s foreign ministry said: ‘President Xi’s visit to the UK last year was a very successful one. Both sides have made great efforts for the success of the visit and the two sides highly recognised that.’
The Queen smiles in the sunshine during a visit to Windsor Horse Show today - one of her favourite events in the Royal calendar
THE QUEEN'S UMBRELLA 'ACTED LIKE A SATELLITE DISH'
The Queen's unguarded comments about President Xi's 'rude' Chinese team would never have emerged without her umbrella, royal sources revealed today.
The clear plastic canopy amplified her comments and sent them towards a microphone belonging to her own personal cameraman.
Had the sun been shining on Tuesday her majesty's comments would not have surfaced.
The Queen's unguarded comments about President Xi's 'rude' Chinese team would never have emerged without her umbrella, royal sources revealed today
An insider told the Telegraph: 'If she had been holding an umbrella made of fabric, it wouldn't have happened.
'But because it's plastic, it reflects the sound like a satellite dish.'
The sovereign’s uncharacteristically indiscreet remarks were picked up by cameraman Peter Wilkinson.
He unwittingly fed the footage to broadcasters, which aired it on the News at Ten in a report on an earlier diplomatic mishap by the Prime Minister.
Mr Wilkinson has been the Queen’s cameraman for 18 years. But he is employed by the BBC, ITV and Sky – and therefore could not choose to edit out the comments even if he had spotted them.
Earlier he had filmed David Cameron filmed telling the monarch that Afghanistan and Nigeria were fantastically corrupt.
Mr Wilkinson had used a sensitive directional microphone to ensure he picked up the Prime Minister's address at a Palace reception to mark the Queen's 90th birthday.
Hours later her majesty attended the garden party where she spoke openly to Met Commander D'Orsi.
This time Mr Wilkinson had changed his microphone to a less sensitive one he uses for such occasions, but it appears the Queen's umbrella amplified her words towards him.
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