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Queen Elizabeth thought Donald Trump was 'very rude' and believed he had an 'arrangement' with Melania
20 August 2024, 08:50
Queen Elizabeth thought Donald Trump was "very rude" and believed he had an "arrangement" with Melania, a new book has claimed.
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The late monarch, who hosted Trump twice during her reign, is said to have made the remarks during a conversation "weeks after" one of the former president's visits.
She is also understood to have "particularly disliked" the way he looked over her shoulder as though he was "in search of others more interesting".
The claims come in a new book from Craig Brown named A Voyage Around The Queen.
In the book, being serialised in the Daily Mail, Mr Brown writes: "Over the course of her reign, Her Majesty entertained many controversial foreign leaders, including Bashar al-Assad, Robert Mugabe, Idi Amin, Donald Trump, Emperor Hirohito and Vladimir Putin.
"She may not have found their company convivial; upon their departure, she may even have voiced a discreet word of disapproval.
"A few weeks after President Trump's visit, for instance, she confided in one lunch guest that she found him 'very rude': she particularly disliked the way he couldn't stop looking over her shoulder, as though in search of others more interesting.
"She also believed President Trump "must have some sort of arrangement" with his wife Melania, or else why would she have remained married to him?
"For his part, Donald Trump was confident he had been her favourite guest ever.
"'There are those that say they have never seen the Queen have a better time, a more animated time,' he later told America's Fox News."
The Queen first met Trump in 2018 - a year after he became president.
His visit caused a lot of controversy, with protesters taking to the streets in London and a giant balloon depicting him as a baby being given the green light to be floated across the capital.
As a result, it was classed as a "working visit" instead of a "state visit", meaning there was little pomp and pageantry and no state banquet.
The following year, Trump did get his official state visit. He also joined the Queen in Portsmouth to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings.