For prime ministers throughout history, visiting the Queen and senior royals at their private Balmoral estate is considered a great privilege.

But palace insiders have now claimed Boris Johnson did not give Prince Charles the respect he deserved during a visit to the Scottish Highlands in 2019.

Mr Johnson had previously met the Queen at her beloved Balmoral so the Prince of Wales decided to extend the same gesture, offering the prime minister a visit to his Birkhall estate.

But insiders noted how Mr Johnson was in a ‘shambolic state’ and seemed ‘distracted’ and was ‘clearly not focused’ on the meeting.

At the time, the PM had only been in office a number of weeks and the overall conclusion was he displayed ‘disrespectful’ behaviour, while Charles remained ‘Sphynx-like’ throughout the encounter.

Talking to the Mail on Sunday, a palace source said: ‘Let’s just say that the prime minister was not focused on the meeting with the Prince of Wales in a way one might expect.

‘The Prince of Wales is used to meeting all sorts of people but among the aides there was a feeling definitely that during the Birkhall meeting with Boris Johnson, he wasn’t being afforded the respect you might argue that he deserves as a senior public figure who works very hard for the country.’

Difficulties between the two men date back to when Mr Johnson was foreign secretary.

The PM is renowned for being relaxed about punctuality, whereas Charles reportedly can not abide lateness of any kind.

Mutual friends have helped draw the two men closer though.

The source added: ‘They are not cut from the same cloth. They have totally different world views. But over time they have found some common ground, particularly on environmental matters.’

Last week the pair were seen together at the Guildhall reception following the Service of Thanksgiving for the Queen at St Paul’s Cathedral. 

Charles and the prime minister had a brief but cordial conversation. Charles then moved off to meet the governors-general from the Commonwealth.

Another source said: ‘Boris seems to have finally realised that he may be having weekly audiences in the not-too-distant future with Prince Charles and that he ought to treat him accordingly.’

Clarence House did not wish to comment on the issue when approached by Metro.co.uk.

No. 10 Downing Street has been contacted for comment.

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