Trump’s love of royals key to state visit as 'special relationship' strained

With Donald Trump well known for his love of the monarchy, the royal family’s soft power diplomacy will be in full flow during the US state visit.

The American president has made no secret of his admiration for the late Queen, her successor the King, and monarch-in-waiting the Prince of Wales.

Mr Trump has always boasted of his bond with the royal family, saying he had “automatic chemistry” with the late Queen, and hailing Charles as a “really wonderful guy”.

This comes as barely a third of Britons believe the UK still has a "special relationship" with the US, a poll has found.

He will pay a private tribute to Elizabeth II by laying flowers at her tomb in St George’s Chapel during his two-day stay.

Read More: Thousands to protest against Donald Trump’s state visit

When Mr Trump met William in Paris in December after the ceremonial reopening of the Notre Dame cathedral, he declared the prince “very handsome”, adding “some people look better in person”.

Mr Trump enquired after the Princess of Wales’s health following her treatment for cancer, revealing William told him Kate was “doing well”.

He did however once make remarks about Kate when she was photographed sunbathing topless by the paparazzi in France in 2012.

“Kate Middleton is great – but she shouldn’t be sunbathing in the nude – only herself to blame,” he said on Twitter.

First Lady Melania Trump wrote in her memoir that she and her husband have an ongoing letter correspondence with the King.

While Charles, known for his eco-credentials, has warned climate change is “the wolf at the door”, Mr Trump has branded it a “Chinese hoax”.

But Mr Trump maintained he “totally listened” to the then-prince when he was pressed on climate change by Charles during his 2019 state visit.

Foreign monarchs, presidents or prime ministers are invited to visit the monarch on the advice and request of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, with the decision down to the Government.

Mr Trump’s election victory marked an extraordinary return to the Oval Office in 2025 in a political career which has been mired in controversy, criminal charges, accusations of racism and sexism, and the US Capitol riots in January 2021.

There were suggestions the “special relationship” between the UK and the US had faced strain, with high-profile Labour figures having expressed critical opinions about Mr Trump in the past.

But the Government will be keen to make the most of the US leader’s self-proclaimed bond with the royal family.The controversial American leader – the first ever convicted felon to become US president – received an invitation from the King in January this year to make an unprecedented second state visit.

Charles and the Queen are reportedly set to be invited to make a state visit to the US by Mr Trump in 2026 to coincide with the 250th anniversary of America’s Declaration of Independence.

Mr Trump has often spoken of his rapport with Charles’s late mother, Elizabeth II, saying: “I really got to know her because I sat with her many times and we had automatic chemistry, you will understand that feeling.”

But author Craig Brown, in his biography, A Voyage Around The Queen, has since claimed that the monarch found Mr Trump “very rude”.

She is said to have “particularly disliked” the way he “couldn’t stop looking over her shoulder, as though in search of others more interesting”.

In 2018, Mr Trump joined the Queen for tea at Windsor Castle ahead of his 2019 state visit and said of the sovereign: “That is a beautiful woman.”

The 47th American president has, however, been publicly critical of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

He lambasted the King’s younger son and Meghan, accusing them of treating the late Queen “very disrespectfully”.

But at the start of February, he ruled out trying to deport Harry after it was alleged that drug use referenced in his memoir could have disqualified the duke from a US visa, saying “I’ll leave him alone” and adding: “He’s got enough problems with his wife. She’s terrible.”

Meghan previously labelled Mr Trump “divisive” and a “misogynist”.

Harry and Meghan are, however, no longer working royals and will be thousands of miles away at their home in California when Mr Trump visits the UK.

Mr Trump did, however, used to bombard Diana, Princess of Wales, William and Harry’s late mother, at Kensington Palace with massive bouquets, according to broadcaster Selina Scott, who said he saw the princess as “the ultimate trophy wife”.

He also once said he would have slept with Diana without hesitation and after her death called her “beautiful” but “crazy”.