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LONDON, May 11 (UPI) -- Britain's Queen Elizabeth was caught on camera Tuesday complaining about Chinese officials being "very rude." The 90-year-old monarch's unguarded moment came while she was hosting a garden party at her London home, Buckingham Palace.
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A cameraman working on behalf of British broadcasters filmed Elizabeth in conversation with London's Metropolitan police commander Lucy D'Orsi.
When D'Orsi was introduced as the officer responsible for security during last year's historic visit to Britain by President Xi Jinping, the Queen was heard to remark: "Oh, bad luck."
Her Majesty added: "They were very rude to the ambassador" – referring to Barbara Woodward, Britain's first female ambassador to China.
D'Orsi admitted to the Queen that Xi's visit had been "quite a testing time for me" and claimed that at one point Chinese officials "walked out" on both her and the British ambassador, telling her "that the trip was off."
"Extraordinary," the Queen replied.
"It's very rude and very undiplomatic, I thought," the police commander concluded.
A Buckingham Palace spokesman later said: "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."
Speaking in Beijing on Wednesday, Lu Kang, a spokesman for China's foreign ministry, declined to directly address the Queen's comments.
"President Xi's visit to the UK last year was a very successful one," he insisted. "Both sides have made great efforts for the success of the visit and the two sides highly recognized that."
Asked if he had been surprised by Queen Elizabeth's comments, he laughed and told The Guardian newspaper: "I have already said what I can say."
At the time of the visit, the Queen hailed it as a "milestone" and declared Anglo-Chinese ties were being taken to "ambitious" new heights.
President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan were honored with a state banquet at Buckingham Palace, hosted by the Queen.
Xi was even photographed enjoying a pint of English beer with Prime Minister David Cameron at a pub in Buckinghamshire.
Cameron himself was at the center of a similar gaffe yesterday when he was overheard saying that Afghanistan and Nigeria are "fantastically corrupt."
The Queen's comments about Xi's officials aren't the first time that British royals have made less than complimentary comments about the Chinese.
In 1986, Prince Philip warned some British students in China that they'd get "slitty eyes" if they stayed there too long.
And Prince Charles, who avoided two Chinese state banquets in Britain, described some Chinese officials in a leaked journal as "appalling old waxworks."
