King Charles III and his son, Prince William, have had to be in the same room as former American President Donald Trump in official capacities.
The Republican politician probably did not notice it, but the Royal Family does not have the warmest feelings for him.
Mr. Trump spent a lot of time going after Prince Harry and Meghan Markle for signaling that they supported Joe Biden in 2020.
He might have missed the fact that the other royals have a long list of grievances that do not date from yesterday.
As he prepares to return to the political arena for another run for the White House in 2024, it will be interesting to see how he approaches the royals now that everything is out in the open.
American journalist Christopher Andersen is getting a lot of attention with his new book The King: The Life of Charles III. It has a lot of details about what fueled the problems between the royals and the bombastic figure.
It all re-started in 2012 when Trump was busy on Twitter sharing his thoughts left and right on trending headlines. Kate Middleton was in the middle of a topless photo scandal.
The Royal Family was focused on getting justice for a blatant breach of privacy. The clan was also trying to rally public opinion to their cause as they took on a popular tabloid.
Trump failed to show any sensitivity when the story grabbed headlines. The royals never forgot this embarrassing episode.
The then-reality TV star wrote on Twitter: “Kate Middleton is great–but she shouldn’t be sunbathing in the nude–only herself to blame. Who wouldn’t take Kate’s picture and make lots of money if she does the nude sunbathing thing. Come on, Kate!”
According to Mr. Andersen, the royals were furious after Trump posted his message. The author wrote: “Trump’s criticism of Kate resulted in what one Clarence House butler referred to as “torrents of profanity” from both Prince Charles and his sons.”
Moreover, Trump always rubbed King Charles the way after shocking comments he made about Princess Diana during an interview with Howard Stern in 1997.
Andersen explained: “It didn’t help that Trump … had aggressively pursued Princess Diana after her divorce — overtures that were rebuffed — and claimed later on a radio program that he could have ‘nailed her if I wanted to,’ but only if she passed an HIV test.”
The differences between Trump, King Charles, and his sons — Prince William and Prince Harry — are also political. They view climate change as an important issue that needs to be addressed right away; Trump does not feel the same sense of urgency.
It will be interesting to see if those revelations will quieten Trump’s fascination with the royals. In addition to his rumored pursuit of Princess Diana, he also heaped praise on Queen Elizabeth II.
