King Charles appeared to be making a very subtle nod to the recent diplomatic row between Britain and Greece during today’s appearance in Dubai.

The monarch, who attended the opening of the COP28 UN climate summit, wore a tie depicting the Greek flag as well as a blue and white handkerchief.

Charles’s late father, Prince Phillip was born a prince of Greece and his subtle statement comes right after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak sparked a diplomatic row over the Elgin Marbles – also known as the Parthenon sculptures – this week when he cancelled a meeting with the Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis at the last minute.

The Government said the talks had only been agreed on the basis the Greeks would not publicly lobby for the return of the marbles but Greece denied promising not to raise the issue on the trip. At the time, a spokesman for the Office of the Greek Prime Minister told the BBC: “The prime minister is disappointed that Prime Minister Sunak cancelled their bilateral meeting at the 11th hour today.

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“Greece and Britain have a very deep history of friendship and cooperation, and the Greek government is extremely surprised by this decision.”

Sunak’s abrupt cancellation has sparked widespread criticism in the UK and abroad.

But the Prime Minister seemed not to mind the King’s sartorial statement today as he posted a picture on X, formerly known as Twitter and praised him for having been “at the forefront of the fight to protect our planet” for more than 60 years.

During his opening address today, the monarch urged world leaders to take immediate action as the dangers of climate change were no longer a distant risk.

He said: “I pray with all my heart that COP28 will be another critical turning point towards genuine transformational action,” he said, in reference to the 2015 summit held in France.

“We are seeing alarming tipping points being reached.”