How Angela Rayner's unlikely rapport with the King is paying off
With a hand lifted up to shield his mouth from the watching camera crews, the King leant across to whisper to Angela Rayner.
Leaning in to hear what was being said, a broad smile spread across the face of the deputy prime minister. We may never know what was said, unless it is disclosed by the 45-year-old Labour firebrand in her memoirs. However, the meeting at Dumfries House in Scotland was enough to show the world that there is an understanding between the pair.
On the face of it, it is an unlikely friendship but one that is no less genuine as a result. The Times understands that Rayner has also held meetings with the King and the Prince of Wales that, while not secret, took place away from the cameras. Rayner's role as housing minister coincides not only with the King's personal concerns but also with those of his son.
In April Rayner held a private meeting with Prince William at Windsor Castle. The details, again, are likely to remain private, but it is understood that the pair discussed William's Homewards project, his five-year campaign to make homelessness 'rare, brief and unrepeated'.
This week Rayner announced that the government would be decriminalising rough sleeping by scrapping the 200-year-old Vagrancy Act from spring next year. It is a move that will be wholeheartedly supported by William, who has spoken of the need to remove the stigma around homelessness. Having slept rough on the streets of London in 2009 to raise awareness of the issue, the Prince of Wales hopes to eradicate the need for anyone to spend even a single night on the streets.
This all comes back to Rayner, who has often spoken of her deep respect for the monarchy, and a commitment to Queen (now King) and country. As housing, communities and local government secretary, Rayner is responsible for overseeing Labour's pledge to build 1.5 million homes by 2029, creating a dozen new towns in the process. There are certainly those in the palace who wish her well. Her charm appears to have disarmed the King while she also appears to be thrilled to get to know him behind the scenes.
They could barely come from more different worlds. She had a difficult childhood and was pregnant at 16 with her first child. In a recent interview with The Times, she was asked about a photograph in which Charles appears to be feigning shock in a comical response to one of her jokes.
The Prince of Wales is committed to ending homelessness
She declined to divulge what she had said to elicit such a response, saying: 'That's got to be private. But he's got a really good sense of humour. I know it sounds strange coming from me, but he's incredibly easy to get along with.'
Royal sources point out that the King has many strong friendships across the political spectrum, but the pictures of Rayner in her bovver boots having a giggle with Charles is not one of his more obvious alliances. He laughs at her jokes, she listens intently to his thoughts and there's even a little good-natured mickey-taking, which most Britons would acknowledge as one of the signs of a fond friendship. 'Golly, what amazing trousers!' Charles said when Rayner turned up to a meeting in a bright green pair.
Rayner's brief comes into contact with one of the King's great passions: that of creating affordable housing centred around sustainable themes and practical but aesthetically pleasing designs.
Rayner and Charles were seen laughing together like old friends as she visited the Ayrshire headquarters of the King's Foundation. While weighty subjects were discussed, it was clear the pair felt relaxed in each other's company, the King chuckling away at Rayner's jokes and vice versa.
Behind the scenes, as well as in front of the cameras, sources say they get on well. While monarchs and future kings are more likely to spend their time with the prime minister than their deputy, Rayner's role has set her apart. When the King invited Sir Keir Starmer to see a housing project he had inspired in Nansledan, Cornwall, in February, he extended the invitation to Rayner. In an unprecedented royal engagement, the trio were seen walking around the development, which is being built as a 540-acre extension to the seaside town of Newquay. While Starmer appeared slightly awkward, Rayner and the King chatted more freely.
The pair in Newquay in February
ALASTAIR GRANT/GETTY
It will not have been lost on Charles's aides that Rayner's policies as housing minister will seek to address problems so often highlighted by senior members of the royal family, such as homelessness and affordable housing. Charles would prefer new houses to be aesthetically pleasing and believes that good design and community should be at the heart of any housing project.
Rayner has also joined the King and other members of the royal family at Blenheim Palace and Westminster Abbey. That she has no time for Andrew (she allegedly once referred to him as a 'nonce') clearly will not stand against her. According to the book Get In by the journalists Patrick Maguire and Gabriel Pogrund, which tells the story of the Labour Party under Starmer's leadership, Rayner is reported to have told her office: 'I'm not going to vote to keep that nonce on … I can't go back to my constituency and say, 'Yeah, I support that'.'
The book reported an aide saying: 'She was very actively reaching out to the palace, the upper echelons of the civil service and said she thought this [Andrew] was a huge problem, and that the government needed to address this, and that she would offer cross-party support to make sure it happened.'
While she has been critical of Prince Andrew privately, she has defended the broader monarchy publicly. After the royal family was criticised in 2017 by Emma Dent Coad, then Labour MP for Kensington, she gave a television interview in which she said: 'They are a fantastic export. People love them across the world, and they contribute to everything that's British, and I don't have a problem with the royal family.'
In turn, the palace appears to have welcomed Rayner with open arms. This month Rayner was invited on to a panel with Kristina Murrin, chief executive of the King's Foundation.
When Charles arrived at the SXSW festival in east London this month, he was greeted by Rayner, Sir Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, and Eva Omaghomi, the King's former diversity tsar who chairs the festival's advisory council, among others.
Earlier, Rayner had spoken at the festival about sustainable communities. It is a subject close to the King's heart and now, it seems, so is the deputy prime minister.
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