Buhari, the legacy and his identical twin brother (2)

David Cameron is no stranger to the danger of unguarded comments in the presence of TV microphones. And he is also by no means the only politician to fall into that particular trap. Last year he was recorded talking about Yorkshire people “hating            each other”. He was previously caught revealing how the Queen “purred” with pleasure when he told her Scots had rejected independence. That controversial remark was picked up by broadcast microphones on a trip to New York soon after the 2014 referendum.

Gordon Brown famously described a potential Labour voter as “a bigoted woman” in a spectacular gaffe. The former prime minister’s comments were unwittingly broadcast to the world during a campaign visit to Rochdale during the 2010   general election campaign.

Former Tory PM John Major excelled himself in Tokyo once by announcing to what he wrongly assumed was a dead microphone that he regarded some of the Eurosceptic members of his Cabinet      as “bastards” whom he would like to “crucify”. He added: “Even as an ex-whip I cannot stop people sleeping with            other people that they ought not …”

Perhaps the most celebrated of all such gaffes was President Ronald Reagan’s in 1984, when he said: “My fellow Americans. I am pleased to tell you I just signed legislation which outlaws Russia forever. The bombing begins in five minutes.”

James Callaghan, when he was prime minister, went into a radio studio in Leeds and, in a conversation with staff there, said: “What             a nuisance and a waste of time it is to have to go into the House of   Commons twice a week to answer questions.”

The Prince of Wales has also fallen for “live microphone syndrome” with his remarks about Nicholas Witchell, the BBC’s royal             correspondent. He said: “Bloody people. I can’t bear that man. I mean, he is so      awful, he really is.”

Meanwhile, Kathleen Gingrich, mother of Newt Gingrich, a prominent US Republican politician, inadvertently let slip her son’s             views about Hillary Clinton, who was then first lady of the United          States. “He thinks she’s a b****,” she said.

Not unexpectedly, the entire machinery of the Britain Government went into damage control mode. Somehow, Her Majesty, the Queen, who had just celebrated her 90^th birthday got dragged into the fiasco through the side window and after shock when at the same event, the microphone picked up her curt remarks about the Chinese:

 

Chinese censors have imposed a media blackout on a film showing the Queen branding President Xi Jinping’s officials ‘very rude’. Her majesty made the unguarded comments about last year’s politically sensitive state visit of President Xi Jinping in October, calling his team’s behaviour ‘extraordinary’. BBC World News has said its channel has been blocked in China and any footage elsewhere is being blacked out on screen as officials maintained they made ‘great efforts’ during the trip.

The Queen spoke out at a Buckingham Palace garden party attended by 4,000 people yesterday when she met Metropolitan Police Commander Lucy D’Orsi, who ran security for the trip. When she was told of Ms D’Orsi’s role working closely with the Chinese delegation she said: ‘Oh, bad luck’ before saying they were ‘very rude’ to British Ambassador to China, Barbara Woodward. A report on BBC World broadcast in the country was ‘blacked out’ by Chinese censors overnight.

The filmed conversation also revealed she called the delegation’s actions ‘extraordinary’ and that she was aware of the Chinese group’s ‘testing’ behaviour. Commander D’Orsi said this included one incident when officials stormed out of Lancaster House, close to Buckingham Palace an threatening to call off the trip.

A Chinese Embassy spokesman refused to be drawn on the Queen’s views and said: ‘President Xi Jinping’s state visit to the UK last year was very successful. Both sides at the working level made great efforts towards the success of the visit’.

The Queen’s gaffe came shortly after David Cameron was recorded telling her that major recipients of British aid are ‘fantastically corrupt’.

The Prime Minister told her that ‘the leaders of some fantastically corrupt countries are coming to Britain’. Singling out Nigeria and Afghanistan for criticism, he told the monarch they were ‘possibly the two most corrupt countries in the world’.

Hours afterwards the Queen made her own unguarded comments.

The Lord Chamberlain, The Earl Peel, introduced the Queen to Commander D’Orsi, and couldn’t hide his feelings about the behaviour of the sovereign’s guests. Nor, however, could the Queen who, remarkably, commiserated with Commander D’Orsi and complained how rude their guests had been to her ambassador. Normally the model of discretion, the Queen’s astonishing comments were picked up by her long-serving official cameraman, Peter Wilkinson, and the film fed to the national broadcasters. The situation was all the more remarkable as she would have known by then that Mr Cameron had been caught out talking to her about Nigerian and Afghan corruption, also by her official cameraman, Mr Wilkinson. Unsurprisingly when recalling the conversation to reporters at the garden party, Commander Lucy D’Orsi failed to make a single mention of the Queen’s remarks and said they had just chatted about the difficulties involved in being a working mother. She said: ‘We were talking about juggling being a working mum.

‘I said the diversity of my day, sometimes you are in charge of the Chinese State Visit and then in the evening you are at home being a mum. ‘Then mum was talking about being a grandmother and reflecting…’ Her mother, Judith Copson, interjected: ‘That you can give the children back in the evening and have fun with them by day.

‘She said she thoroughly understood that.’ Commander D’Orsi said: ‘They were both obviously reflecting on enjoying being grandparents.’

She added: ‘For her to say thank you for all the hard work for me doing the Chinese State Visit is really rewarding.’

A Buckingham Palace spokesman said last night: ‘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.’

J.K. Randle