HOW AWKWARD! QUEEN’S GAFFE.

Plastic umbrella amplified ‘rude’ comment

• The Queen’s trusty plastic umbrella was blamed Wednesday for causing comments she made about “very rude” Chinese officials to be picked up by a TV camera, which in turn prompted a diplomatic row with Beijing.

Her Majesty had thought she was out of range of microphones when she had a frank discussion with a senior police officer about the behaviour of the Chinese during last year’s State visit.

But a cameraman covering the event on behalf of the BBC, ITV and Sky filmed the exchange at a Buckingham Palace garden party, and the BBC took the decision to broadcast the “private” conversation.

The BBC insisted it was within its rights to broadcast the exchange, but Whitehall sources accused the corporation of damaging the convention that members of the public should be able to have candid private conversations with the Queen without fear of them being reported verbatim.

Sources said the Queen’s comments were audible because her clear plastic umbrella, which she uses to allow people to see her while sheltering from the rain, had acted like the cone in a loudspeaker, amplifying her voice towards the microphone.

“If she had been holding an umbrella made of fabric, it wouldn’t have happened,” an insider said.

“But because it’s plastic, it reflects the sound like a satellite dish.”

The Queen’s comments, in which she also sympathized with the police officer for her “bad luck” in having to co-ordinate security during the Chinese visit, caused a headache for the Foreign Office and led to Beijing blocking BBC World News reports about it.

Had the sun been shining on Tuesday, it appears that the Queen’s highly sensitive remarks would never have reached a wider audience.

Her Majesty was attending the first of the annual round of Buckingham Palace garden parties, where Scotland Yard’s Commander Lucy D’Orsi was among the 8,000 guests invited to honour them for their public service.

D’Orsi was ushered towards the Queen by the Lord Chamberlain, whose office organizes the garden parties.

He told the Queen that D’Orsi was “seriously undermined” by the Chinese, and urged her to “tell your story.”

The officer told the Queen about a preparatory meeting at Lancaster House in London with Chinese officials and the British ambassador to China, Barbara Woodward, in which the Chinese “walked out and told me that the trip was off.”

The Queen, already aware of the incident, described it as “extraordinary” and said the Chinese were “very rude to the ambassador.”