Shocked Camilla ‘hasn’t stopped talking about’ hearing Joe Biden ‘break wind’ at Cop26 in Glasgow

Boris Johnson may have hailed Joe Biden as “a big breath of fresh air” – but it appears that events at the Cop26 climate conference in Glasgow may have given the Duchess of Cornwall, on some level, grounds to disagree.

The US president met with Camilla and various other members of the royal family during a reception at Kelvingrove Art Gallery to mark the summit’s opening night, attended by world leaders.

The royals’ diplomatic heft has been on display at the conference in which they have met with willing guests from across the globe, with Prince William claimed to have remarked loudly at one event: “I liken it to speed dating here ... you chat for a bit then press the button and then quickly move on to the next, you don’t have enough time.”

Watch: Prince Charles and Camilla arrive at Cop26

But in another report carrying a claim about the etiquette of Mr Biden, any such imagery conjuring a whiff of romance was decidedly absent.

As she spoke with Mr Biden on Monday evening, it has been claimed that Camilla was surprised to hear the US president break wind, in an emission audible enough to make the duchess blush.

“It was long and loud and impossible to ignore,” the Mail on Sunday quoted a source as saying. “Camilla hasn't stopped talking about it.”

Clarence House declined to comment when approached by The Independent.

The alleged flatulence – the unverified claim of which quickly began to trend on Twitter, where it was dubbed “fartgate” – came hours after Mr Biden sought to bring the US out from the shadow of the Trump administration, apologising for his predecessor’s decision to pull out of the Paris Agreement and “put us sort of behind the eight ball” on tackling the climate crisis.

Mr Biden had already pledged to cut his country’s emissions in half by 2030 in April, but on Monday issued a long-term plan for how to achieve net zero two decades later.

He celebrated his $1.2trn infrastructure bill’s passage through Congress on Friday, which he said will make “historic and significant strides that take on the climate crisis”.

Watch: Camilla speaks to school children about climate change

Read More

Cop26 Glasgow news live: Biden says forests ‘indispensable’

What are the Covid rules at Cop26?

Cop26 off to shaky start as queues and chaos mar first 24 hours