King Charles Was Accused of Being Too "Woke" By Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson

Johnson "went in quite hard" on Charles, per a new book.

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Boris Johnson wearing a navy suit and tie standing next to King Charles and looking at him quizzically
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Boris Johnson was known for his contentious stances on a range of issues during his stint as Britain's Prime Minister, but now a new book revealed what the politician really thought about "woke" King Charles's viewpoints on the U.K.'s colonial past.

In his forthcoming book Out: How Brexit Got Done And The Tories Were Undone, political writer Tim Shipman detailed how Johnson disagreed with The King on addressing slavery.

Johnson was in office before Queen Elizabeth died and Charles had taken the throne, but the then-Prince of Wales made his thoughts about one government stance quite clear. Per the book (via GB News), "Charles had described the conservative government's plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda as 'appalling.'"

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The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) was being held in Kigali, Rwanda in 2022, and according to Shipman, Charles was concerned that Johnson's deportation policy would create unnecessary "tension" at the event.

Boris Johnson wearing a suit and tie standing below a podium where King Charles is raising his arms and speaking enthusiastically

Johnson reportedly didn't agree with The King's "woke ideology."

(Image credit: Getty Images)

At the time, Prince Charles "revealed that he wanted to respond to the widespread fury about colonialism unleashed by the Black Lives Matter campaign, by acknowledging the evils of slavery." However, this didn't go down well with Johnson.

"Johnson, despairing that even the monarchy had been captured by woke ideology, was blunt," per Shipman, who wrote that the former Prime Minister admitted he "went in pretty hard" on Charles for putting his nose into governmental policies.

As for the royal, Shipman claims that he told Johnson, "Well maybe, inadvertently, without intention I may have said something."

During CHOGM 2022, Charles said, "I cannot describe the depth of my personal sorrow at the suffering of so many as I continue to deepen my own understanding of slavery's enduring impact."

This isn't the first revelation about Boris Johnson in recent weeks; according to the politician's memoir, Unleashed (via the Daily Mail), he was asked to give Prince Harry a "manly pep talk" to convince him to stay as a senior member of the Royal Family.

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Kristin Contino
Kristin Contino
Senior Royal and Celebrity Editor

Kristin Contino is Marie Claire's Senior Royal and Celebrity editor. She's been covering royalty since 2018—including major moments such as the Platinum Jubilee, Queen Elizabeth II’s death and King Charles III's coronation—and places a particular focus on the British Royal Family's style and what it means.

Prior to working at Marie Claire, she wrote about celebrity and royal fashion at Page Six Style and covered royalty from around the world as chief reporter at Royal Central. Kristin has provided expert commentary for outlets including the BBC, Sky News, US Weekly, the Today Show and many others.

Kristin is also the published author of two novels, “The Legacy of Us” and “A House Full of Windsor.” She's passionate about travel, history, horses, and learning everything she can about her favorite city in the world, London.