Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall visited the heart of government on Thursday, during a vital day for Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who was reshuffling his cabinet. The Prince of Wales joked that he didn't want to get in the way of Boris' vital decision-making, and even thanked senior civil servants for all their hard work over the past few years that have been dominated by Brexit.
WATCH: The Prince of Wales jokes about politics on a visit to Government
In what appeared to be a comment about Brexit, the father-of-two said: "I do congratulate you, particularly when I know how much work extra work you had to do in the last two years. With little sleep probably and not seeing much of your families, so I hope now things are slightly less stressful."
MORE: Tea anyone? 9 times the royal family enjoyed a cuppa
Princes Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall in Whitehall
Speaking to staff at the end of the visit, and Michael Gove, whose Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster role is based at the Cabinet Office, Charles said: "Both my wife and I - we did wonder whether it was quite the most sensible day to come. We did say 'please, we don't want to get in your way' but we were told it was all right."
The royal continued: "I just want to say for me (it is) fascinating always to see what is happening in the heart of government in the Cabinet Office. When I was much, much younger I remember spending a certain amount of time going round various departments. I was even able to spend the whole day at Number 10 with the then prime minister Mr (James) Callaghan, which was fascinating, you can imagine, at that stage in life."
Charles went on to say he had great "respect and value" for the civil service, and told the Whitehall workers: "I do realise just what an immensely important role you all play. It's easy to say that but I do know that it's so dependent on all of you working in teams and then as one great big team."
Like this story? Sign up to our newsletter to get other stories like this delivered straight to your inbox.