In attendance at a climate conference on Friday, Britain’s King Charles made a statement by wearing a tie featuring the colors and symbols of the Greek national flag. This move came just days after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak got into a diplomatic spat with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis over the Parthenon Sculptures.
Charles, who has Greek lineage through his late father Prince Philip, proudly donned the tie when he met with Sunak on the sidelines of COP28 in the United Arab Emirates, as well as when he delivered a speech at the event.
Earlier in the week, Sunak escalated the tension with Athens by accusing Mitsotakis of “grandstanding” during a recent visit to London regarding the ownership of the Parthenon Sculptures. This led Sunak to cancel a planned meeting with Mitsotakis.
According to a source at Buckingham Palace, Charles had also worn the same tie the week prior, before the dispute had escalated. A spokesperson for Sunak chose not to comment on the tie.
The British media observed that in addition to the blue and white tie with the same design as the Greek flag, Charles also sported a blue and white handkerchief from his jacket pocket.
ITV television’s Royal Editor Chris Ship commented on social media, noting, “In a week when Rishi Sunak cancelled a meeting with the Greek Prime Minister to make a ‘stand’ over the #ParthenonMarbles #ElginMarbles … King Charles appears to have chosen to wear a very interesting tie when he met Mr Sunak in Dubai today.”
For years, Athens has been urging the British Museum to permanently return the 2,500-year-old sculptures that were removed from the Parthenon temple in 1806 by British diplomat Lord Elgin. The museum has suggested it would consider a loan to Greece only if Athens recognizes the museum’s ownership of the sculptures.
(Additional reporting by Alistair Smout and Michael Holden, Writing by William Schomberg in LONDON; Editing by Alex Richardson)
