King welcomes Tory leader Kemi Badenoch to palace in revival of royal convention
Charles chatted with the leader of the Opposition in the 1844 Room of the royal residence.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has held a one-to-one audience with the King – reviving an old convention of the monarch meeting with the new leader of the Opposition.
Charles welcomed Mrs Badenoch in the grand 1844 Room of Buckingham Palace on Monday morning.
Mrs Badenoch, who was elected Tory leader in November, was pictured grinning as the smiling King gestured and held his arms out wide at the start of their half-hour meeting.
She is said to be the first opposition leader to have a formal one-to-one audience with a monarch in 19 years.
A royal source said: “It was a convention that fell by the way in latter years of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth’s reign and seemed a courtesy to revive in the new reign.”
It is not known why the tradition lapsed during Labour’s years in opposition.
The last Opposition leader to be welcomed in a formal audience in the months after their appointment was David Cameron, when he met with the late Queen in 2006.
Mrs Badenoch, the North West Essex MP and former trade secretary, replaced Rishi Sunak in the wake of the party’s disastrous defeat in the summer general election.
Known for her forthright views on issues such as gender identity and institutional racism, Mrs Badenoch has described herself as a “sceptic” of net zero and is known for her anti-woke values.
She is the first black woman to lead a major UK political party.
The King and Mrs Badenoch have met several times before, most recently at Charles’s post-election reception for MPs at the palace last week, and also in June 2023 at a King’s Award for Enterprise reception, when Mrs Badenoch was trade secretary.
Sir Keir Starmer met with Charles two days after Elizabeth II died, but the audience with the Labour leader was a joint one with other opposition leaders and part of the planned schedule of meetings in the aftermath of the Queen’s death.
The King holds a private weekly audience with the Prime Minister each Wednesday to discuss Government matters following Prime Minister’s Questions, with the conversation usually taking place face-to-face.
Although the King must remain politically neutral on all matters, he is able to advise and warn his ministers – including his prime minister – when necessary.
