LONDON: The British royal family wasn’t interested in meeting US President
Donald Trump during his visit to the UK, a newspaper has claimed.
The heir to the British throne Prince Charles and his son William refused to meet Trump during his four-day UK trip, leaving the Queen to meet the US president in
Windsor Castle alone on Friday, the Sunday Times has said, quoting sources. The first two in line to the throne made it clear that they did not wish to be present at the meeting, the newspaper claims.
“This business of Prince Charles and Prince William not being there for the Trump visit was a snub. They simply refused to attend. It’s a very, very unusual thing for the Queen to be there on her own,” a source told the Sunday Times.
The newspaper describes it as a “royal snub” and points out that in 2016
Barack Obama had a private dinner at
Kensington Palace with the Duke and Duchess of
Cambridge and Prince Harry as well as met the Queen.
A royal household member of staff, involved with Trump’s visit, told TOI on Sunday that this was not a state visit. “The involvement of other members of the royal Family is different when it is a state visit. The Queen alone met the King and Queen of Belgium on Saturday. The visit by Barack Obama that the Sunday Times refers to was not a state visit either, but it was the last year of his presidency and he had completed two terms and built relationships with other members of the royal family by then. This was President Trump’s first official visit to the UK and first time to meet the Queen.”
Buckingham Palace refuted claims in the article that Trump had insulted the Queen by refusing to bow and walked in front of her when inspecting the guard. “It is an entirely personal choice whether you bow in front of the Queen. There was a slight confusion about which sides both were meant to be on when they inspected the guard but it was resolved quickly,” the palace said.
A Buckingham Palace spokesperson said: “In line with standard practice for guest of government visits the President and First Lady were received by The Queen as Head of State. The arrangements were mutually agreed between the Palace and the UK and US governments. There was never a suggestion that other members of the royal family would take part.”
Charles and Trump hold divergent views on climate change, with the US President having declared global warming as a hoax and withdrawn from the Paris climate change agreement, while Charles campaigns on the risks of climate change and has co-authored a book on the topic. Charles has been stepping in for Prince Philip of late, who is 97 and recently had a hip replacement and retired from his royal duties last year.
