William summons minister to Palace for first time ever

With all eyes on Brussels this week, i can disclose that a discreet meeting has been held at Kensington Palace which may, in time, prove to have a constitutional significance all of its own.

it was at ‘KP’, on tuesday afternoon, that Prince William held private talks with Andrea Leadsom, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

A courtier confirms this is the first occasion the Duke of Cambridge has summoned a minister to meet him at Kensington Palace.

the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have 22 rooms and two kitchens in their royal apartment which will become their permanent home from September, when Prince George starts at the £20,000-peryear thomas’s school in Battersea, South London.

the official word on his private pow-wow with the Secretary of State is that it enabled him to exchange thoughts about the outcome of the illegal Wildlife trade (iWt) conference that both he and Leadsom attended in Vietnam last November, as well as to discuss plans for the iWt’s conference being held in London in 2018.

it is not known if anything else was raised at the talks.

Prince Charles is famous for his ‘black spider’ memos to ministers about his pet subjects — so named because of his scrawling black handwriting. Between 2004 and 2005, he advised ministers on everything from homeopathic medicine to ‘the illegal fishing of the Patagonian toothfish’, which, Charles explained to then Environment Minister Elliot Morley, he hoped would be ‘high on your list of priorities’.

At least the meeting offers William the opportunity to begin rectifying the impression that he might be ‘workshy’.

this impression was bolstered by his recent weekend skiing in Verbier where he enjoyed the company of 24-year-old blonde Australian model Sophie taylor, her friend 30year-old Rosie Peate, and William’s high-spirited pal Guy Pelly, 35.

the Prince seems unlikely to have ‘high-fived’ Mrs Leadsom, as he did Ms taylor.