Rupert Lowe has repeatedly refused to say whether he believes King Charles is a “white Briton” in a disastrous radio interview.

The Restore Britain leader was asked about a report by the former Reform candidate Matt Goodwin, which he has often quoted, which claims that white British people will be a minority in the UK by 2063.

The report is works on the basis that to be a “white Briton”, both of your parents must be UK-born. This means King Charles, whose father Prince Phillip was born in Greece, would not be considered a white Briton.

Asked three times by presenter Nick Robinson whether he believed the King to be white British or not, Mr Lowe repeatedly refused to answer the question.

“Well, many people have different interpretations of that... I mean, we can split hairs, I think you're splitting hairs,” he told BBC Radio 4.

Pushed several times more, he accused the BBC in a tense exchange of trying to “whitewash all of the things that happen”.

“You peddle DEI... which British people have got bored of,” he said.

DEI, or Diversity, equity, and inclusion, is a term that refers to policies that encourage representation and participation of people of different genders, races, ethnicities, religions, ages, sexual orientations, disabilities, and classes.

He also said he would defund the BBC “very quickly” should he come into power, as he accused the national broadcaster of becoming “malign”.

The comments come days after Nigel Farage opened the door to talks with his ally-turned-rival Mr Lowe over a pact between Reform UK and Restore Britain as he tries to reverse his party’s fortunes after a series of major setbacks.

The former Reform MP extended an unlikely olive branch to Mr Farage, despite several public rows between the pair in recent months.

The Reform UK leader offered a lukewarm response at first, before revealing on Monday he had “reached out” to Mr Lowe to discuss working with Restore Britain.

But despite Mr Farage saying he was “open-minded” about talks, relations quickly soured again when Mr Lowe accused the Reform UK leader of lying about having “reached out”.

Discussions about Restore and Reform working together come after Mr Lowe acrimoniously left Mr Farage’s party in March 2025 amid claims of bullying and threatening behaviour, before going on to found his own party, Restore Britain. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said Mr Lowe would face no criminal charges.

The party – which until now has largely been based in Mr Lowe’s constituency, Great Yarmouth – is further to the right than Reform on issues such as immigration and has enjoyed support from tech billionaire Elon Musk, who has publicly backed Restore Britain a number of times on his X platform.