Prince Harry and his brother Prince William have successfully denied Donald Trump the opportunity of appearing in a photo with either of them or their glamorous and popular wives during his state visit to the U.K.
Trump would have loved to have the photos with the princes, as they would have been invaluable PR for his 2020 re-election campaign, but it did seem unlikely after the president used the word “nasty” while discussing Harry’s wife, Meghan Markle.
Trump subsequently attempted to deny having said Meghan herself was “nasty,” despite being clearly heard using the word on a recording, suggesting instead that he was describing what she said about moving to Canada if he got elected as a “nasty” comment.
Prince Harry is thought to have been angered by the undiplomatic remarks, made to a reporter from The Sun newspaper, and although he did not pull out of a scheduled private luncheon with Trump and his family on Monday, he had a face like thunder when he was pictured shortly afterward processing into a specially curated exhibition of American artifacts from the Royal Collection.
Prince Harry is like “Nuh uh gonna keep my distance from thr creep who said my wife is nasty and that he could have nailed my mother.” pic.twitter.com/VhgCLQB6mP [1]
— Barbara Malmet (@B52Malmet) June 3, 2019 [2]
Harry appeared to be escorting Trump’s daughter Ivanka; however, when the prince appeared to realize the walkthrough of the exhibit was being filmed, he quickly ducked out of the event.
Trump, however, has been left unable to complain and demand a photo call with Harry or William, because he has been given several moments with the queen and Prince Charles, who significantly outrank Harry, who is seventh in line to the throne, and therefore not obligated to take part in state occasions.
Trump’s cold-shouldering by William and Kate is arguably a more provocative move on the part of the young royals.
As third in line to the throne, it could be argued the William and his wife do have a responsibility to greet Trump one-on-one in front of the cameras, but so far they have studiously avoided doing so.
At last night’s state banquet, they were both seated several places away from Trump, in what was clearly a deliberate (and successful) attempt to restrict the president’s ability to harness the popularity of the young royals.
Harry was never scheduled to attend the state banquet, but his absence was still (correctly) interpreted as a snub to Trump.
Meghan is on maternity leave and therefore has a completely plausible and diplomatically watertight excuse not to attend any functions this week at all.
It was also noticeable that when Trump visited Westminster Abbey on Monday to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior, he was not accompanied by William, as might have been expected, but by Prince Andrew, the queen’s second son.