A Brief History of Donald Trump’s Controversial Interactions with the British Royal Family
"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links." After much debate in the UK, Buckingham Palace formally confirmed that King Charles will be making an official State Visit to the U.S. in April.
“On advice of His Majesty’s Government, and at the invitation of The President of the United States, The King and Queen will undertake a State Visit to the United States of America,” read the announcement. .
“Their Majesties’ programme will celebrate the historic connections and the modern bilateral relationship between the United Kingdom and the United States, marking the 250th anniversary of American Independence.” The upcoming trip will be only the latest interaction between Trump and the British royal family.
Here, a brief timeline of Trump's long complicated history with King Charles, Princess Diana, and the rest of the Windsors.
Following the announcement in December 1992 that Princess Diana had separated from Prince Charles, then-American businessman Donald Trump reportedly started courting the Princess of Wales, allegedly bombarding her with flowers to the point that she said , "He gives me the creeps." According to accounts by British journalist Selina Scott, Trump pursued Diana quite aggressively.
"Trump clearly saw Diana as the ultimate trophy wife," Scott wrote in the Sunday Times . "As the roses and orchids piled up at her apartment she became increasingly concerned about what she should do. It had begun to feel as if Trump was stalking her." The pair did meet once, though never dated, and after the Princess died, Trump had the following exchange on air with Howard Stern: "You could've nailed her, right?" Stern asked Trump.
Trump replied, "I think I could've." Then in 2000, Trump once again reminded the world that he had wanted to have sex with Diana, saying, "she was crazy, but those are minor details." In recent years, Trump changed his story and denied having pursued Diana romantically.
In an interview with Piers Morgan in 2016, he said , "I did respect her, but no interest from that standpoint. But I did meet her once, and I thought she was lovely." This reversal of tone may not hold much sway with William and Harry, given how protective they are of their mother and her public memory.
"When it comes to the younger royals, especially given his crude comments about Diana after her death, it is hard to imagine that Charles, William, Harry and Kate will view Trump as anything but crass and overbearing,” said royal biographer Christopher Andersen .
In 2012, paparazzi used a powerful zoom lens to capture photos of the then Duchess of Cambridge sunbathing topless while on vacation in the south of France with her husband, Prince William. These photos were then sold and published in a French magazine called Closer .
There was a public outcry and a broad consensus that the pictures were a grave invasion of Kate's privacy—and recently, a French court ruled in the royals' favor, awarding the Duke and Duchess €100,000 in damages.
Never one to shy away from rendering an opinion on a matter of public controversy, Donald Trump defended the photographers on Twitter, and shamed Kate, blaming her for the whole incident "Kate Middleton is great--but she shouldn't be sunbathing in the nude--only herself to blame," he tweeted.
"Who wouldn't take Kate's picture and make lots of money if she does the nude sunbathing thing. Come on Kate!" As of early 2025, the tweets are still public on his official account. This unsavory history was on many people's minds when Theresa May revealed, during her first visit to Washington following the inauguration, that Donald Trump had accepted the Queen's invitation to Britain.
The royal family keeps their political leanings to themselves, but Meghan Markle made her thoughts about Trump known before marrying Prince Harry in May 2018 . The then-actress called Trump "misogynistic" and said she would consider staying in Canada if he won the 2016 elect…