'Prickly' Chinese censor news of Queen's garden party slip: Paranoid politicians impose media blackout after Her Majesty describes their diplomats as 'very rude'
- The Queen spoke about President Xi Jinping and his wife's visit last year
- She said they were 'very rude' to the ambassador in the conversation
- Her comments came as she spoke to Met Police Commander Lucy D'Orsi
- Ms D'Orsi said she ran Chinese visit and Queen replied: 'Oh, bad luck'
- China's censors 'black out' BBC World report on diplomatic incident
- See more news on the Queen as she brands Chinese diplomats 'rude'
Chinese censors have imposed a media blackout on a film showing the Queen branding President Xi Jinping's officials 'very rude'
Her majesty made the unguarded comments about last year's politically sensitive state visit of President Xi Jinping in October, calling his team's behaviour 'extraordinary'.
BBC World News has said its channel has been blocked in China and any footage elsewhere is being blacked out on screen as officials maintained they made 'great efforts' during the trip.
The Queen spoke out at a Buckingham Palace garden party attended by 4,000 people yesterday when she met Met Police Commander Lucy D'Orsi, who ran security for the trip.
When she was told of Ms D'Orsi's role working closely with the Chinese delegation she said: 'Oh, bad luck' before saying they were 'very rude' to British Ambassador to China, Barbara Woodward.
Caught out: The Queen was recorded telling Met Commander Lucy D'Orsi that Chinese officials were 'very rude' during last year's state visit
Police Commander Lucy D'Orsi was Gold Commander in charge of security during the visit by controversial President Xi Jinping and his wife last October (pictured together at a state banquet)
The Queen has been caught out by her own cameraman making unguarded comments about last year's politically sensitive Chinese state visit
A report on BBC World broadcast in the country was 'blacked out' by Chinese censors overnight.
The filmed conversation also revealed she called the delegation's actions 'extraordinary' and that she was aware of the Chinese group's 'testing' behaviour.
Commander D'Orsi said this included one incident when officials stormed out of Lancaster House, close to Buckingham Palace an threatening to call off the trip.
A Chinese Embassy spokesman refused to be drawn on the Queen's views and said: 'President Xi Jinping's state visit to the UK last year was very successful. Both sides at the working level made great efforts towards the success of the visit'.
The Queen's gaffe came shortly after David Cameron was recorded telling her that major recipients of British aid are 'fantastically corrupt'.
The Prime Minister told her that 'the leaders of some fantastically corrupt countries coming to Britain'.
Singling out Nigeria and Afghanistan for criticism, he told the monarch they were 'possibly the two most corrupt countries in the world'.
Hours afterwards the Queen made her own unguarded comments.
The Lord Chamberlain, The Earl Peel, introduced the Queen to Commander D'Orsi, and couldn't hide his feelings about about the behaviour of the sovereign's guests.
Nor, however, could the Queen who, remarkably, commiserated with Commander D'Orsi and complained how rude their guests had been to her ambassador.
Normally the model of discretion, the Queen's astonishing comments were picked up by her long-serving official cameraman, Peter Wilkinson, and the film fed to the national broadcasters.
The situation was all the more remarkable as she would have known by then that Mr Cameron had been caught out talking to her about Nigerian and Afghan corruption, also by her official cameraman, Mr Wilkinson.
In the footage the sovereign said it was 'bad luck' that Commander D'Orsi (left) was the Gold Commander during the state visit of President Xi Jinping and his wife last October
Commander D'Orsi said the couple 'walked out of Lancaster House' and told her the trip was off which she called 'rude and very undiplomatic'
During the unguarded conversation, Commander D'Orsi was also joined by her mother
HOW QUEEN COMMISERATED WITH POLICE OVER CHINESE STATE VISIT
The Queen commiserated with Commander D'Orsi (pictured) and complained how rude their guests had been to her ambassador
The Queen's unguarded comments have revealed the behind the scenes troubles President Xi's Chinese delegation caused on their trip to Britain last year.
Here is the full exchange:
Lord Chamberlain: 'Can I present Commander Lucy D'Orsi, who was Gold Commander during the Chinese state visit…'
The Queen: 'Oh, bad luck'
Lord Chamberlain: '…and who was seriously, seriously undermined by the Chinese, but she managed to hold her own and remain in command. And her mother, Judith, who's involved in child protection and social work.'
Commander D'Orsi's mother: 'Yes, I'm very proud of my daughter.'
Lord Chamberlin: 'You must tell your story.'
Commander D'Orsi: 'Yes, I was the Gold Commander so I'm not sure whether you knew, but it was quite a testing time for me.'
Queen: 'Yes, I did.'
Commander D'Orsi: 'It was, er, I think at the point that they walked out of Lancaster House and told me that the trip was off, that I felt err…'
The Queen: 'They were very rude to the ambassador'
Cmdr D'Orsi: 'They were, well, yes she was, Barbara was with me and they walked out on both of us.'
The Queen: 'Extraordinary'
Commander D'Orsi's mother: 'I know, it's unbelievable.'
Commander D'Orsi: 'It was very rude and very undiplomatic I thought…'
Unsurprisingly when recalling the conversation to reporters at the garden party, Commander Lucy D'Orsi failed to make a single mention of the Queen's remarks and said they had just chatted about the difficulties involved in being a working mother.
She said: 'We were talking about juggling being a working mum.
'I said the diversity of my day, sometimes you are in charge of the Chinese State Visit and then at home in the evening you are at home being a mum.
'Then mum was talking about being a grandmother and reflecting...'
Her mother, Judith Copson, interjected: 'That you can give the children back in the evening and have fun with them by day.
'She said she thoroughly understood that.'
Commander D'Orsi said: 'They were both obviously reflecting on enjoying being grandparents.'
She added: 'For her to say thank you for all the hard work for me doing the Chinese State Visit is really rewarding.'
A Buckingham Palace spokesman said last night: '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.'
Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond confirmed that the Chinese state visit 'got a bit stressful on both sides'.
Speaking on a visit to Gibraltar, Mr Hammond said: 'We had a major state visit last year, it was hugely successful.
'Big state visits are big logistic challenges.
'I was involved in this and yes, at times it got a bit stressful on both sides.
'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.'
But there is little doubt that the Queen's recorded remarks will be of intense embarrassment to them.
Michel Hockx, director of SOAS China Institute, told the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire show that some on Chinese social media believed the conversation was scripted - because the official introducing Ms D'Orsi to the Queen was reading from his notes.
'It comes across as very sort of scripted and unnatural ... the fact that it was caught on camera and being put into the public domain - so some people are saying 'Well, this Queen turns out to be just another politician anyway'.'
The royal mingled with other guests including Pastor Kofi Banful and Jayne Banful in the garden of Buckingham Palace, as up to 8,000 guests attended the first royal garden party of the year
Rana Mitter, director of Oxford University's China Centre, suggested that China was more concerned about Britain possibly leaving the EU than remarks made by the Queen.
'I think the Chinese are extremely pragmatic on these sorts of things ... There is a perception that the UK is an important enough trading and political partner that this sort of incident isn't going to get in the way,' Professor Mitter said.
'I suspect that Chinese officials are far more concerned about the prospect of Britain leaving the European Union than they are about the overheard comments of high-level figures.'
He added of the Queen's comments: 'My sense is that Chinese officials won't be entirely surprised. They will be aware that the way in which the security arrangements around this visit were made for Xi Jinping were a lot more vigorous and a lot more demanding than on previous visits.
'They'll have certainly received a significant pushback from the British side on that front.'
The man who caught both the Queen and her Prime Minister out on camera yesterday was, remarkably, her official cameraman Peter Wilkinson.
The respected and much liked former ITN cameraman has worked with the monarch for 18 years - and was even made a member of the Royal Victorian Order by her for his services.
But although he has an office at Buckingham Palace and is well regarded by the sovereign, Mr Wilkinson is not employed by the Royal Household.
Instead he answers to Britain's three TV news networks – the BBC, ITV and Sky – who divide his costs between them.
Back in the 1990s, with the advent of 24-hour rolling TV news, the Palace and the networks came to an agreement.
Rather than have rival film crews competing for identical royal footage at big events – or missing small ones altogether – they would appoint a single cameraman to provide quality film of whatever the Queen might be doing and then share it.
That is why yesterday's troublesome footage could not be edited in any way.
PRINCE PHILIP ON 'SL**TY EYES' AND CHARLES ON 'WAXWORK' LEADERS: UPS AND DOWNS OF THE ROYAL FAMILY'S RELATIONSHIP WITH CHINA
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, China's First Lady Peng Liyuan, Queen Elizabeth II and China's President Xi Jinping posed for photographers after their guests arrived at Buckingham Palace on October 20, 2015
The Royal Family's relationship with China has not always been plain sailing.
But the 2015 state visit that the Queen was referring to had been hailed as a success as Britain pulled out all the stops to fete the world's second largest economy.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge turned up to the glittering evening banquet, with Chinese President Xi Jinping staying as the Queen's guest at Buckingham Palace. Mr Xi also dined with Prime Minister David Cameron at Chequers and was taken on an away day to Manchester City's football academy.
UK-China relations were briefly thrust into the deep-freeze in 2012 after Mr Cameron's meeting with exiled Tibetan leader the Dalai Lama prompted outrage in Beijing.
Back in 1986, the Queen paved the way in royal relations with China when she became the first British monarch ever to visit the republic.
But the historic trip was not without its incidents - courtesy of the Duke of Edinburgh.
Philip was overheard describing Beijing as 'ghastly' and told British exchange students: 'If you stay here much longer you'll all be slitty-eyed.'
The Prince of Wales has had a notoriously troublesome relationship with China and has yet to make an official visit to the country's mainland.
He once described its leadership as 'appalling old waxworks' in extracts from his journal describing his visit to Hong Kong in 1997 for the ceremony marking the formal handover of the colony to China.
In 1999, he was accused of boycotting a Chinese state visit to the UK by failing to attend the return banquet held for the then-president Jiang Zemin, who two years earlier attended the Hong Kong ceremony.
During President Hu Jintao's state visit in 2005, Charles carefully side-stepped the issue by being out of the country on a tour of the US on the night of the official dinner. He did not meet Mr Hu on the remaining two days of his visit.
But four years later, the relationship appeared to be changing and Charles held his first private meeting with a Chinese president in the UK, meeting Mr Hu at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in London, and broaching the delicate issue of Tibet.
During the 2015 state visit to the UK, the Prince did not attend the evening banquet, but held one-to-one talks with President Xi as they took tea together at Clarence House.
Charles has courted controversy with China because of his long-standing and public friendship with the Dalai Lama, seen as a separatist threat by the Chinese.
China sent thousands of troops into Tibet in 1950 to enforce its claim on the territory, but over the decades has been criticised by human rights organisations for its governance of the region. Campaigners continue to criticise the country for executing hundreds of people every year and for failing to stop torture.
In 2009 Charles opened the Prince's Charities Foundation (China) in Beijing - his first charity based in the republic.
The Prince's son, the Duke of Cambridge, has been working to forge closer ties with China.
During a high-profile trip to China in 2015, William sat down for talks with Mr Xi, with both men looking relaxed in each other's company - and even chatting about their common interest in football.
It was the first meeting on Chinese soil between a British royal and the republic's president in almost 30 years.
Mr Xi praised the British monarchy's positive role in UK/China relations and extended an open invitation to the Royal Family to visit his country - but only time will tell whether that invite still stands.
David Cameron caught on camera admitting corrupt regimes get our aid cash
The Queen's comments come after David Cameron said he had 'fantastically corrupt countries' coming to London for key summit while chatting to the Queen and Archbishop of Canterbury at a Buckingham Palace event on Tuesday
Two major recipients of British aid are 'fantastically corrupt', David Cameron admitted yesterday.
The Prime Minister was caught on camera making the candid remark to the Queen at a Buckingham Palace event marking her 90th birthday.
He told her a summit in London tomorrow would see 'the leaders of some fantastically corrupt countries coming to Britain'. Singling out Nigeria and Afghanistan for criticism, he told the monarch they were 'possibly the two most corrupt countries in the world'.
Downing Street stood by the comments – which appeared to leave the Queen visibly shocked – saying the leaders of both countries acknowledged that they had a problem.
But Tory MP Philip Davies called for Nigeria and Afghanistan to be stripped of aid until they clean up their acts.
'It is completely unjustifiable for the Prime Minister to pour taxpayers' money into Nigeria and Afghanistan even though he knows they are fantastically corrupt, it is an absolute scandal,' he said.
The two countries pocketed £435million of British cash last year – despite deep cuts to public services here. Their payments have soared 35 per cent since Mr Cameron took office in 2010.
The Queen did not respond to Mr Cameron's blunder while the cameras were rolling
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