Sunday, Buckingham Palace released a statement saying that King Charles III will not attend the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) scheduled to be held in Egypt next month.

The Sunday Times had alleged that Prime Minister Liz Truss had “ordered” the King not to attend. The palace said that the King asked for advice, and Truss gave him her advice, and then “agreed that the king would not attend.” The BBC has said that as Prince of Wales, Charles had shown his intention to attend the climate conference.

The King is known for his interest in environmental issues and attendance at major climate change conferences, the last of which was held in Glasgow in November 2021. This comes in conjunction with a demand by the family of the imprisoned Egyptian-British political activist Alaa Abdel-Fattah for the intervention of the British government to release him. “I cannot confirm or deny the relationship between the faltering release of Alaa and the announcement that King Charles will not attend [the climate summit], but I hope this is the case,” said Abdel-Fattah’s mother, Laila Soueif. “Our family has not yet obtained any clear promises to release Alaa, except for the permanent promises from the British Embassy in Cairo to make efforts and try to release him.”