King Charles won't attend key international event close to his heart: Here's why

King Charles should not go to Cop27 and instead send Prince William in his place, an environment minister has said amid reports that UK's new prime minister Liz Truss intervened to stop the monarch attending the event close to his heart.

Buckingham Palace has reportedly confirmed that the new King will not be attending the international gathering in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, despite his longstanding and passionate commitment to environmental issues.

The decision not to go was taken after the prime minister raised objections during an audience with the monarch at the Palace last month, The Sunday Times has reported.

The new member of Truss's Cabinet Mark Spencer said Prince William should go instead as the King now has “other priorities”.

The new minister for fisheries and farming, speaking at a Conservative Environment Network event at the Conservative Conference on Sunday said: “I’m not in charge of the king’s diary, luckily. He’s expressed a great deal of interest in the environment in the past, but I think in his new role, as the as the monarch is going to have a lot of other priorities, and I think as he said himself he’s up for others to take up that challenge.”

Spencer said he thought King Charles' son William should take up the mantle: “I’m sure the Prince of Wales will be a huge ambassador for the environment, moving forward.”