A leaked email exchange between two of Prince Charles’s closest aides shows that they turned down an invitiation to the Prince to visit Israel because they thought such a visit would help Israel improve its image.

Earlier this year, according to the Jewish Chronicle, the Israeli embassy invited Sir Michael Peat, Prince Charles’s Principal Private Secretary, and Clive Alderton, Deputy Private Secretary, to Israel for a four-day visit as guests of the Knesset. This was seen as a prelude to a possible official visit by the Prince, which would have been the first-ever state visit by a British royal to Israel.

Peat initially expressed enthusiasm for the idea, replying in an email: “The invitation is hugely appreciated and Clive and I would love to come.” One month later, however, Alderton complained to Peat in an email of being “pursued” by the Israeli ambassador, and asked: “Safe to assume there is no chance of this visit ever actually happening?... Acceptance would make it hard to avoid the many ways in which Israel would want HRH [Prince Charles] to help burnish its international image," he wrote, "In which case, let’s agree a way to lower his [the Israeli Ambassador's] expectations."