EPHRAIM HARDCASTLE: King Charles hopes Sunak will grant permission for him to travel to Cop-28
, who was unable to fulfil his ambition to attend the UN conference Cop-27 in Egypt, is hoping will grant permission for travel to Dubai for Cop-28 later this year. And not just to engage in debate about the climate. The Palace knows that royals can open doors in desert kingdoms that remain shut to mere politicians. Charles is confident he'd gain privileged access to the Cop-28 president, Sultan Al Jaber. They had a private meeting in 2013 when he accompanied the UAE's president Sheikh Khalifa on a state visit to London. Sources whisper that the King's biggest concern is that doesn't quite comprehend the power of royal diplomacy and may not want him to travelling to Dubai. The late Queen went to her grave maintaining the secrets of the interior of her handbag, Paddington Bear sketch notwithstanding. My colleague Ann Leslie, however, utilised the contents of hers to befuddle border guards demanding non-existent entry visas. Apart from passport, press card, three notebooks, tape recorder, an orange, aspirin, cigarettes, make-up kit, shoe cleaner, money and curlers, she explained: 'I begin searching through the bag, fishing out bits of old make-up, broken car keys, snaps of my husband and daughter, eyebrow pencil, airline socks, false eyelashes, broken KitKats, parking tickets, a Tina Turner CD, spare tights, dead batteries, empty pill bottles and an ancient recipe for Irish stew.' Identified as 'a typical woman' by exasperated hatchet-faced immigration men, Ann was invariably waved though. Superannuated Channel 4 anchor Jon Snow recalls his teenage encounter with the Queen when his late father, a bishop, introduced him to the monarch and then to Prime Minister Harold Macmillan. Jon asked the PM: 'Are you married to the Queen?' Macmillan replied: 'Oh no... I run the country.'