King Charles wore a tie with a Greek flag pattern at the COP28 climate summit only days after the Prime Minister was embroiled in a diplomatic row over the Elgin Marbles.
The king, whose late father Prince Philip was born into the Greek royal family, also wore a matching handkerchief in the country's national colours of blue and white when he met Mr Sunak at the summit.
It comes after a row between Rishi Sunak and his Greek counterpart, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, when the PM cancelled a meeting with him.
Sunak denied throwing a “hissy fit” by scrapping the planned meeting after accusing the Greek PM of grandstanding about the return of the artefacts, also known as the Parthenon sculptures, to Athens.
The return of the sculptures has been a long-standing source of disagreement between the two countries but recent years have seen moves to prepare the ground for a possible return.
Former chancellor George Osborne, the chairman of the British Museum where the friezes are on display, said he was pressing on with negotiations on the marbles even though it was clear from events this week that Mr Sunak’s administration would not support an exchange.
But he said the stance taken by Opposition leader Sir Keir Starmer – who met Mr Mitsotakis in London this week – could pave the way for it to happen under a future Labour government.
The King used his appearance at Cop28, where he gave the opening address, to warn the world remains “dreadfully far off track” in key climate targets and called for meaningful change.
He said at the opening of the World Climate Action Summit on Friday that despite some progress, “transformational action” was needed as the dangers of climate change are “no longer distant risks”.
The monarch told heads of state, heads of government and business and climate delegates at Expo City Dubai that nature was being taken into “dangerous, uncharted territory” by human activity, and called for “nature-positive” change.
