Donald Trump has had a very special relationship with the British Royal Family over the years, and one that hasn’t always been positive.
The President of the United States and his wife, Melania, have met with the British monarchy several times, with differing results. For example, Trump was reportedly dubbed “rude” by Queen Elizabeth, and Melania hasn’t been spared either. According to a royal expert, the late queen once even impersonated the First Lady.
Throughout his years in the public eye, Donald Trump has met dignitaries, world leaders, and royals worldwide. When he became President of the United States for the first time in 2016, the president made several state visits across the globe, one of which included a visit to Buckingham Palace to meet Queen Elizabeth II.
Trump and Queen Elizabeth met for the first time in 2018. Much of what actually happened behind the Palace walls will likely never be brought to the public’s attention, but one author, Craig Brown, has revealed shocking details about the meeting.
In his biography Voyage Around The Queen, which was serialized in the Daily Mail, Brown painted Trump in a disastrous light, claiming that the queen found him “very rude.”
“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,” Brown wrote.
“She may not have found their company convivial; upon their departure, she may even have voiced a discreet word of disapproval,” he continued. “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.”
Donald & Melania Trump – relationship with the Royal Family
Craig Brown concluded: “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?”
Unsurprisingly, Trump had quite a different view of his meetings with the queen. In an interview with the Daily Mail, the former The Apprentice star said Brown’s claims were “totally false,” branding the author as a “sleaze bag.”
“I have no idea who the writer is, but it was really just the opposite. I had a great relationship with the queen. She liked me and I liked her. We spent hours together at a state dinner. She was a fantastic woman. I think it’s a shame that a sleaze bag can write an article that’s totally false. In fact, I’ve heard always the opposite.”
He added: “I heard I was her favorite president, and you’ve heard that too. She would say it to a lot of people.”
Queen Elizabeth sadly died in 2022. In her White House memoir, Donald Trump’s former Russia advisor wrote that the president considered that “meeting with the Queen of England was the ultimate sign that he … had made it in life.”
When the queen passed away, Trump paid tribute to her, saying he would never forget her “generous friendship, great wisdom and wonderful sense of humour.”
Melania Trump revealed she’s penpal with King Charles
Melania, meanwhile, has been at her husband’s side at Buckingham Palace and during royal visits. Last year, the now-First Lady of the United States revealed something quite extraordinary: she has a penpal in the British Royal Family, and it’s none other than King Charles.
In October, the First Lady released her self-titled memoir, Melania. In the book, she revealed that she has engaged in “ongoing correspondence with King Charles III” since their first encounter in 2005. She wrote that they met for the first time at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.
“Our paths had crossed many years ago in New York City,” Melania wrote. “This time, we engaged in an interesting conversation about his deep-rooted commitment to environmental conservation.
“[O]ur friendship with the Royal Family continues, and we exchange letters with King Charles to this day,” she added.
Moreover, Melania wrote a fitting tribute to the late Queen Elizabeth, who died in September 2022 at the age of 96.
“As we bid farewell to Her Majesty, we extended a cordial invitation for her return visit to the United States.” she wrote. “She expressed her gratitude with a warm smile. Sadly, Her Majesty wasn’t able to visit with us again before her death in 2022.”
Perhaps most notably, Melania mentioned an ongoing correspondence with Charles, saying: “[O]ur friendship with the Royal Family continues, and we exchange letters with King Charles to this day.”
Royal expert says Queen Elizabeth II impersonated Melania
Queen Elizabeth was known for her impressive service to the Crown, and how she handled herself around any world leader, politician, or member of the public who she met. She also had a great sense of humor and was an expert in using clever language to make other people laugh. However, one trait she had, which might not be public knowledge, was her skill of impersonation.
According to royal expert and commentator Ephraim Hardcastle, the Queen regularly performed impressions of Donald and Melania Trump. In her later years, she ‘took a fondness’ for impersonating Melania.
The impersonation of Melania allegedly included Queen Elizabeth putting on a bored face and muttering a five-word phrase.
“The late Queen Elizabeth, who hosted Donald Trump three times in 18 months, became adept at impersonating the US President. Less known, however, is that the monarch also had a take on his rarely heard wife Melania. A source, who was present when she was asked to render the First Lady, says that HM would go silent, put on a bored face and eventually mutter: ‘I want to be alone’ à la Marlene Dietrich. It seems the Queen felt sorry for the latest Mrs Trump,” Hardcastle said, per Express.
It is unclear when Donald and Melania Trump will make their next visit to the UK, which undoubtedly will include a visit to Buckingham Palace to meet the Royal Family. One member of the monarchy actually met Donald recently: Prince William.
Prince William finds relationship with Donald Trump “really important”
When world leaders gathered in Paris, France to witness the reopening of the grand cathedral Notre Dame last year, King Charles decided that his son, William, would go in his place. Charles, remember, is still receiving treatment for the cancer he was diagnosed with a year ago.
Sadly, Donald Trump’s supposedly friendly relationship with the royals does not extend to all the monarchy’s family members. Prince Harry has been in hot water over his Visa application, and the president once threatened to deport him if it was revealed that the Duke had lied about ever taking drugs. The POTUS later stated he wouldn’t allow Harry to be deported.
“I don’t want to do that,” Trump told the outlet. “I’ll leave him alone. He’s got enough problems with his wife. She’s terrible.”
Meanwhile, Donald and Prince William’s relationship continues to develop. According to a royal expert, it’s crucial for the future king.
A source told The Telegraph that William has a “powerful, really important ” influence on the future and the “special relationship” between the UK and the US. Meanwhile, the insider stated that William sees the relationship with Donald Trump as a “key.”
“Navigate egos and expectations”
Speaking to Fox News, former British public affairs official Shannon Felton Spence said forming a relationship with Donald Trump is a “part of his preparation for kingship.”
“It is a test of his ability to engage with world leaders he may not personally align with, to navigate egos and expectations, and to ensure that Britain remains at the center of global power dynamics,” she shared about the 42-year-old. “The queen did this for 70 years. Now, it’s his turn.”
Moreover, British royal expert Hilary Fordwich claimed she believes Trump’s “family values align directly with Prince William’s.”
“[Trump] has been explicit in his disdain of Harry, referring directly to his betrayal of Queen Elizabeth II which he considers ‘unforgivable,’” she told Fox.
Melania kept herself out of the spotlight after her husband was sworn in as the 47th President of the United States on January 20. She returned to Washington before her husband’s address to Congress two weeks ago. Still, during Trump’s speech, fans noticed something odd about Melania as her husband introduced her. While Melania received an ovation from Congress, social media users caught the First Lady’s lip twitching.
“Melania is doing that lip thing again,” one social media user observed, per the Mirror. It’s not the first time it has happened. In January, she was spotted doing the same thing with her lip while traveling with her husband.
Fans concerned over Melania Trump’s ‘lip twitching’
One user asked, “Is she OK?” while others suggested that it looked like she was “hissing,” “growling,” or even “snarling.”
So, what could be the reason behind Melania’s lip-twitching? According to Psychology Today, it could be a sign that she was nervous or stressed.
“When some people are nervous or stressed, their lips will twitch or move about erratically, like a nervous tic or a form of dyskinesia (involuntary muscle movement). Or the lips may visibly distort or contort uncontrollably under emotional turmoil. For those not familiar with this behavior, it can be distracting, but once you realize that this is often induced by stress, it can help you assist others undergoing an emotional situation so you can be more understanding and, hopefully, empathetic,” the website states.
“In some cases, when people are holding back from crying, their lips may quiver, blush red, pout, or vibrate just enough to communicate that they are about to cry or they are emotionally distraught. So, too, when on a first date, the lips may quiver slightly as close proximity and intense eye-to-eye contact can also increase the emotional barometer.”
Psychology Today continues: “The lips are highly sensitive to touch and temperature—all you have to do is look at a sensory homunculus to see how out of proportion our lips are compared to the rest of the body—but they are also reflective of, and highly reactive to, our emotional states. Rich with nerves and highly vascular, the lips react in real-time to vacillating emotions.”
The site concluded, “So, when people receive bad news or witness a horrific event, the lips quickly stiffen—muscular tension increases and blood constriction takes place to the point the lips may actually look ashen. Under extreme stress, they are compressed tightly together or are pulled into the mouth, and they literally disappear.”
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