Nigel Farage said he has “had a laugh” with the King despite past disagreements with him.
The Reform UK leader met with members of the royal family at Buckingham Palace at a reception for newly elected MPs.
Also present was the Queen, alongside the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh and the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester.
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Mr Farage said he has met the King “many times”, and added he knew if he saw him “some of the exchanges would be interesting” as they “have disagreed in the past”.
He added: “He came to the European Parliament many years ago and gave a big speech to which he got a standing ovation.
“Apart from me, I sat there with arms folded. So we’ve had a laugh about it ever since, it’s not nasty, it’s climate change and stuff like that.”
The Clacton MP criticised the Duke and Duchess of Sussex – saying other members of the royal family were having to pick up the slack.
The MP said the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh – Prince Edward and Princess Sophie – were “charming” and they are “doing a lot of the heavy lifting”.
Asked if it was the first time he had met them, he said: “I met them [a] long, long, long time ago.
“But no, they’re charming, and they do a lot of the heavy lifting, because there’s one or two gaps out there.”
Mr Farage added it had been “a difficult few years” for the royal family.
He said: “You know, wonder boy and wonder girl disappear off to America, you know, [Queen Elizabeth II] dies, the King’s not been well, Andrew’s not in the public eye, Princess Anne is 74 or 75 or whatever she is. So they’re doing a lot of the heavy lifting. And I think doing it very well.”
Mr Farage said he had “a laugh about life” with Edward.
The King and Queen also welcomed Sir Keir Starmer and Kemi Badenoch. Pic: Reuters
On the reception at the palace as a whole, he said: “It’s really funny being at this, because this is not the first one of these I’ve been to.
“I came to a reception for new MEPs. So we’re going back 26 years, and there were about 30 of us, and that was with [Queen Elizabeth II] and as he was then, the Duke of Edinburgh.”
