‘What’s the gossip?’ Trump asked Queen Camilla about Meghan Markle during UK state visit
WINDSOR, ENGLAND: President Donald Trump reportedly tried to get the latest gossip about Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, from Queen Camilla during his state visit to the UK last month.
Notably, President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump were hosted by King Charles III and Queen Camilla at Windsor Castle in September, making him the first US president to receive a second invitation for a state visit to the UK.
The president, the queen, and the hand signal
According to an insider quoted by The Royalist Substack, Trump tried to get royal gossip during the trip by asking Queen Camilla, “So what’s the gossip on Meghan then? What’s going on there?”
Camilla is believed to have brushed aside any gossip with good grace, making a simple gesture of crossing wrists to suggest she was ‘handcuffed’ and therefore could not comment. According to a report, this gesture is one that King Charles III also reportedly uses when he cannot say something about a certain subject.
Trump’s response to political attacks by Meghan Markle and Prince Harry
Trump has actually been interested in the Duchess of Sussex for a very long time now. It goes back to 2016, when Meghan Markle and then-actress made highly political as well as derogatory attacks against candidate Trump by calling him "misogynistic" and "divisive!."
Trump was quite forthright when these comments were recalled in 2019 before his first UK state visit. "I didn’t know she was nasty," he told reporters.
However upon returning home from the journey, during an interview with Piers Morgan, he praised the royal family and said that Meghan was “very nice” and that Prince Harry was a “terrific guy.”
Donald Trump’s view of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle over time
In 2020, when Prince Harry and Meghan Markle moved to Los Angeles from Canada, Trump wrote on social media, stating the US would not pay for their security and said "they must pay!" themselves.
Meanwhile, the couple responded that they had no intention to ask the US to pay the bill.
Furthermore, Trump’s criticism became stronger after the couple released a video encouraging Americans to vote for Biden without actually naming him, which he interpreted as a political intervention.
He publicly stated, “I’m not a fan of hers,” while also adding a word of caution to Harry, saying, “I wish a lot of luck to Harry, he’s going to need it”.
Trump continued to criticize the Sussexes even after leaving office. In 2024, he called Prince Harris’ actions an “unforgivable” betrayal to the queen. If he were president, he said, the American government "wouldn’t protect him" but "just put him on his own." He argued that the Biden administration had been "too gracious" towards someone who had done nothing.
It is to be noted that Trump has consistently expressed his admiration for the British royal family, highlighting the "automatic chemistry" and rapport he shared with the late Queen Elizabeth II.
