Hancock: the King does not have a ‘normative’ family

THE King does not have a “normative” family, Matt Hancock has said, as he criticised comments made by one of his former Tory colleagues.

Mr Hancock, who has sat as an independent MP since his suspension from the Conservative Party late last year, condemned “offensive” remarks made by Danny Kruger, the Tory MP for Devizes, in a speech this week.

Addressing the National Conservatism Conference on Monday, Mr Kruger said it was a part of a couple’s civic duty “to live for the sake of someone else”.

He said: “The normative family, the mother and father sticking together for the sake of the children, is the only basis for a safe and functioning society.”

Asked about Mr Kruger’s comments during a recording of the News Agents podcast with former BBC journalists Jon Sopel and Lewis Goodall, Mr Hancock said: “I don’t want to hear it again ... It is so offensive, and it’s so wrong.

“I mean, tell that to the King! He doesn’t have a normative family and he is absolutely a strong basis for society.”

The King and the Queen have both had previous marriages. The then Prince of Wales and Diana, Princess of Wales, officially divorced in 1996. The Queen and Andrew Parker Bowles, her first husband, divorced in 1995.

The former health secretary also suggested that The Daily Telegraph had stopped publishing the Lockdown Files because he threatened the newspaper with legal action.

The revelations were based on leaked Whatsapp messages between Mr Hancock and other ministers and officials during the pandemic.

Mr Hancock said: “What happened was, just to be totally clear on that, there was a legal exchange.

“At that point, The Telegraph stopped publishing things and at that point I thought it was best to let it lie.”

A spokesman for The Telegraph said last night: “It’s true that his lawyers made representations to The Telegraph. It’s also true that we’ve now stopped publishing The Lockdown Files.

“But it would be a mistake to infer any connection between his legal representations and our decision to stop publishing.”