President Donald Trump has been accused of breaching royal protocol on several occasions during King Charles III and Queen Camilla's state visit to the United States. The trip, the first by a British monarch since 2007, was seen as a high-stakes effort to smooth over transatlantic tensions over Ukraine and the Middle East.
One notable incident occurred when Trump cut in front of Queen Camilla while greeting officials at the White House. Footage showed Trump stepping ahead of the Queen as she was shaking hands, leaving her visibly taken aback. King Charles also struggled to navigate the handshake line as Trump dominated the interaction.
Trump also violated the 'no touching' rule by patting the King on the shoulder during a welcome ceremony. Body language expert Judi James described the gesture as 'a more political gesture' but suggested Charles appeared unoffended, noting that the King is 'more relaxed about that than his mother.'
Further protocol breaches included Trump touching the King's knee during a meeting in the Oval Office. More controversially, Trump claimed at a state dinner that the King 'agreed' with him on the war in Iran, stating, 'Charles agrees with me even more than I do.' This risks undermining the monarchy's position of political neutrality.
