Donald Trump Snubbed By Prince Charles & Prince William During Royal Visit
Queen Elizabeth II was left to greet Donald Trump on her own during his visit, and it looks like that was because the heir to the throne, her son Prince Charles, and her grandson Prince William, were unwilling to meet with the president of the United States, reports The Sunday Times. The two, who are next in line to rule, were apparently clear in the informal discussions leading up to Trump’s four-day visit, which followed his controversial NATO Summit meetings, that they wanted no part in it.
While officials from both the palace and Downing Street have tried to say that since it wasn’t a state visit but rather a working visit, the plan was only for the Queen to meet with the both Donald and Melania Trump, a source told The Sunday Times that “senior courtiers discussed which royals to include and shared concerns about Charles’s and William’s reluctance to participate.”
“This business of Prince Charles and Prince William not being there for the Trump visit was a snub,” the source said. “They simply refused to attend. It’s a very, very unusual thing for the Queen to be there on her own. Usually she is accompanied by somebody. Prince Charles has been substituting for Philip a lot recently.”
Her Majesty welcomes the President @POTUS and Mrs Trump @FLOTUS in the Quadrangle of Windsor Castle. pic.twitter.com/Gc5LqMV55s
— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) July 13, 2018
The visit with the Queen was limited to a half hour tea, which stands in stark contrast to the working visit made by Barack Obama back in 2016. During that visit, the president was invited to lunch with both the Queen and Prince Philip. Not only that, he enjoyed a private dinner at Kensington Palace that was attended by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge as well as Prince Harry, reports Newsweek.
Meanwhile, a British government minister, who spoke with The Sunday Times anonymously, denied that a formal invitation was rejected. “They might have had a view that they were happy not to do it, but it is not true that it was on the cards and they refused to do it,” he said.
The Queen is obviously well equipped to handle meeting the American president on her own. When Donald Trump tried to use his infamous handshake technique, “forceful yanking motion that pulls whomever he is shaking hands with off-balance,” on the Queen’s Lady in Waiting, Virginia Ogilvy, Countess of Airlie, she was prepared, as previously reported by the Inquisitr. The 95-year-old grasped his hands firmly and then she pulled him toward her to say something. It seemed like he wanted to pull away, but she was not to be deterred, so she yanked him back one more time before releasing her grip on the president.
