Queen waits in vain for Busuttil due to mix-up

The clock had struck 2pm on Friday at San Anton Palace where Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth was to give an audience to Opposition leader Simon Busuttil. The meeting never took place.

Informed sources who worked closely with Buckingham Palace and the British High Commission in preparation for the royal visit, told MaltaToday that the Queen was expected to meet Busuttil, but the PN leader was on his way to Canada.

Busuttil left Malta on Friday to address a Vancouver conference on the fight against diabetes.

In preparation for the royal visit, the Opposition was asked whether Busuttil would like to meet the Queen. On his part, Busuttil requested to meet UK Prime Minister David Cameron. The meeting never took place either.

The Queen’s diary and programme were strictly handled by Buckingham Palace, preparing everything to the minute detail and following a very strict schedule. The British side had also scheduled a meeting between the Queen and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon at 2:20pm, allowing her 20-minutes with Busuttil.

On Friday afternoon, staff at the Office of the President started to panic when Busuttil failed to turn up for the meeting. After several attempts to make contact with the PN leader, his personal assistant informed the startled staff that Busuttil was on his way to Canada.

A PN spokesperson insisted they had informed the British side that Busuttil would not be able to attend the meeting because of his planned visit to Canada. “Simon Busuttil was scheduled to travel to Canada on Friday morning to address an international conference in Vancouver on the fight against diabetes. A meeting between Prime Minister Cameron and the Leader of the Opposition was not logistically possible during the summit due to conflicting travel arrangements of the two leaders.

“Regarding the meeting with the Queen there was a change of arrangements. Her Majesty met the Leader of the Opposition at a reception on Thursday evening.”