AKIPRESS.COM - The “golden era” of UK-China relations appears to have lost some of its glitter after Queen Elizabeth II accused Chinese officials of being “very rude” to the British ambassador during president Xi Jinping’s first state visit to Britain last year, says The Guardian.

During a garden party at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday, the Queen’s official cameraman filmed her discussing Xi’s trip with Metropolitan police commander Lucy D’Orsi.

When D’Orsi was introduced as the officer responsible for security during the visit, the Queen was heard to remark: “Oh, bad luck.”

Later, the Queen told her guest: “They were very rude to the ambassador” – referring to Barbara Woodward, Britain’s first female ambassador to China.

D’Orsi complained 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.

Footage of the conversation, which was distributed to the media by Buckingham Palace, is unlikely to help advance the much vaunted “golden age” of UK-China relations that Xi’s state visit was supposed to help launch.

Speaking ahead of Xi’s arrival, Woodward, a China specialist who has worked in the UK foreign office for more than two decades, predicted a bright future for ties between the two nations.

“We are looking forward to a golden visit in a golden year that launches a golden decade,” she told reporters.

The Queen’s comments about Xi’s visit are unlikely to go down well in Beijing. But they were less incendiary than those made by her son, Prince Charles, after Hong Kong’s return to Chinese control in 1997.

In a memo about the handover ceremony Prince Charles described the Communist party’s elderly leaders as a “group of appalling old waxworks” and mocked the “awful Soviet-style display” of goose-stepping Chinese soldiers at the event.

The British embassy in Beijing declined to comment on claims the ambassador had been mistreated by Chinese officials or provide details of the circumstances under which they supposedly “walked out” on Woodward.

The embassy also declined to comment on the impact the episode might have on the UK-China relationship.

A spokesperson for Buckingham Palace said: “The Chinese state visit was extremely successful and all parties worked closely to ensure it proceeded smoothly.”

Beijing made no immediate comment on the Queen’s claims.