Queen Elizabeth II "would have thoroughly enjoyed" Donald Trump's protocol gaffe during a visit paid by the then-President to the British monarch at Windsor Castle in 2018, royal expert Hugo Vickers has told The Express.
Vickers said: "I understand that she greatly enjoyed her meeting with [President] Trump. And when he went to tea with her at Windsor Castle, she kept him there for an extra 10 or 15 minutes.
"She may just have been amused by him, but he would have been terribly excited to see her. But I do think that especially the second visit, the state visit, I understand from people who know her that she thought he behaved really very well and actually it was all a great success.
Although bystanders assumed shoot-from-the-hip Trump would offend the queen, Vickers says she would have found any protocol hiccups amusing and that she "enjoyed her meeting" with him.
Trump was invited to have tea with the monarch at Windsor Castle at the end of his visit to Britain which he had initially been told by then-Prime Minister Theresa May would be a full state visit. This was not the case though and an invitation to Trump to take part in a formal state visit was issued in 2019.
At Windsor, Trump and the then-First Lady Melania Trump were greeted by the queen and the president was invited to review a guard of honor in the castle forecourt. It was during this reviewing of the troops that Trump was accused of offending the monarch by walking ahead of her. Recounting the gaffe to The Express Vickers said:
"Normally, when the guard of honor was done, it was usually Prince Philip, who would take the visiting head of state to inspect the guard of honor. He wasn't there, and the Queen was there. And in a sense, it looked as if Trump stepped in front of her and she was trying to move him around.
"But she would have thoroughly enjoyed all that, I can assure you."
Meghan's Trump Snub?
Much was made in the press regarding Trump's 2018 visit and a series of snubs that were speculated to have taken place.
Britain's only American-born princess who had married into the royal family in May of that year, Meghan Markle, did not meet with the president and first lady.
This would not have necessarily been expected on a non-state visit such as the one in 2018, but Meghan famously avoided a meeting again the following year when the rest of the senior royals, including Prince Harry, attended an event hosted for the president at Buckingham Palace.
The visit occurred just weeks after Meghan had given birth to her first child and at the time a statement made by Trump calling her "nasty" was being widely reported.
Queen's Brooches Seen as Symbolic by Some
Another aspect of the visit which was interpreted as a dig towards the president was the jewelry that the queen chose to wear during his time in the country.
On the first day that the president was in the U.K. (though she did not meet with him), the queen wore a small moss agate brooch given to her by the Obamas on their last visit to Britain. The monarch had a friendly relationship with the couple and the wearing of their brooch—considering the strained relationship between the Trumps and Obamas—was seen by some as the monarch signaling an allegiance to the latter.
On the second day of the visit (though again she didn't meet with the Trumps), the queen wore a diamond and sapphire snowflake brooch which was a Jubilee gift to her by the people of Canada. At the time of the visit, tensions between Trump and Justin Trudeau, Canada's Prime Minister, were fraught.
Then on the final day of Trump's visit, where he did actually meet the monarch, she wore a brooch which she had rarely worn since the funeral of her mother. This somber jewelry choice was reported by the Guardian as being "not one associated with happiness and joy."
Princess Anne's Shrug
Following the supposed snubs of the 2018 visit, the full state visit paid by Trump in 2019 which coincided with the NATO two-day summit in London was not without its hiccups either.
Though said by Vickers to have been considered a success by the monarch, a strained moment arose at a reception for NATO leaders hosted by the queen at Buckingham Palace.
In a video of the reception the monarch can be seen greeting the Trumps and gesturing for her daughter, Princess Anne, to join them. Footage appears to show Anne hesitantly shrugging.
Anne had previously been filmed standing with NATO leaders including Canada's Justin Trudeau as they spoke about Trump behind his back.
Aside from this Trump made a passionate speech at the formal state dinner to which his children were invited to dine alongside members of the royal family and government. The president, who has referred to the monarch as a "tremendous woman," ended his remarks by proposing a toast to "the eternal friendship of our people, the vitality of our nations and to the long-cherished and truly remarkable reign of Her Majesty the Queen."
As Vickers told The Express, "He couldn't have been nicer about her."
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
James Crawford-Smith is a Newsweek Royal Reporter, based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on the British royal family ... Read more
