The King was facing criticism last night for forcing four Cabinet Ministers – including the Chancellor Jeremy Hunt – to fly 400 miles to his private mansion in Scotland for a taxpayer-funded meeting.
He was accused of an ‘outrageous waste of money’ and climate hypocrisy because the meeting was held partly to formally appoint the new Net Zero Minister in charge of cutting carbon emissions.
Mr Hunt, Defence Secretary Grant Shapps, Privy Council President Penny Mordaunt and Energy and Net Zero Secretary Claire Coutinho all flew on the same plane to Ayrshire for the Privy Council meeting on Friday at taxpayers’ expense.
Ordinarily Privy Council meetings are held monthly at Buckingham Palace or Windsor, but the King held the meeting at Dumfries House to coincide with a party on Friday night to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the public opening of the property, which he bought for £45 million in 2007.
The King is a well-known climate campaigner and yesterday morning opened a sustainable farming skills centre on the Dumfries House estate.
