Oct. 3 (UPI) -- Britain's King Charles III will skip this year's COP27 climate summit in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt, after consulting with Prime Minister Liz Truss.
Statements from members of the government and the royal family indicate the decision was mutually agreed upon.
Charles has been passionate about environmental issues in the past, giving a speech at last year's COP26 conference in Glasgow, Scotland as the Prince of Wales. Charles also traveled to Egypt last year to discuss environmental issues with President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi. The new king is a proponent of the Paris Climate Accords and held discussions in 2019 with then-U.S. President Donald Trump as he moved to withdraw from the 2015 agreement.
The Sunday Times reported Saturday that Truss "ordered" the king not attend COP27, but Buckingham Palace issued a statement saying the agreement was made "with mutual friendship and respect."
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Simon Clarke, a conservative Cabinet minister, told Times Radio that "the suggestions this morning that he was ordered to stay away are simply not true" and that the decision was made "amicably as far as I am aware."
Charles' son William, who has taken over his father's previous title as prince of Wales, is also passionate about environmental issues and increasingly takes on roles his father once handled.
Mark Spencer, the UK minister for fisheries and farming, suggested William should attend the conference in Charles' place as the new king has "other priorities."
Since the death of Queen Elizabeth II, the UK has been adjusting to a new monarch with the Royal Mail and Royal Mint preparing to release new postage stamps and coins bearing the likeness of her son, Charles.
Elizabeth died Sept. 8 at age 96 after 70 years on the throne.
