{"id":7108,"date":"2026-04-06T06:58:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T06:58:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/7108\/"},"modified":"2026-04-06T06:58:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T06:58:08","slug":"what-donald-trump-told-me-about-the-queen-kate-and-charles-plus-a-frank-admission-robert-hardmans-landmark-book-reveals-the-presidents-verdict-on-nasty-trolls-and-behind-the-scenes-details-fro","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/7108\/","title":{"rendered":"What Donald Trump told me about the Queen, Kate and Charles – plus a frank admission. ROBERT HARDMAN’s landmark book reveals the President’s verdict on ‘nasty’ trolls and behind-the-scenes details from BOTH his state visits"},"content":{"rendered":"

In yesterday’s<\/a> extract from his definitive biography of the late Queen, ROBERT HARDMAN explained the truth behind claims that Andrew was her favourite child. In today\u2019s excerpt, he reveals what Donald Trump<\/a> told him about Elizabeth II during an incredibly honest dinner at Mar-a-Lago…<\/p>\n

President Donald Trump has never forgotten his first meeting with Elizabeth II. \u2018The first time I met her, we were only supposed to have 15 minutes, and it just went on because she liked me and I liked her,\u2019 the US President told me.<\/p>\n

He smiled as he recalled trying to persuade her to name her favourite occupant of the White House<\/a>. \u2018I kept asking her, \u201cWho was your favourite president? Was it Reagan? Or Eisenhower?\u201d and she just said, \u201cThey were all very nice\u201d. That sort of thing.\u2019<\/p>\n

Mr Trump explained that he decided to switch tack. He began to ask the late Queen about the residents of Downing Street<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u2018So then I tried her on, \u201cWho\u2019s your favourite prime minister? Must have been Churchill, right?\u201d And she said again, \u201cNo, they were all very nice\u201d.\u2019<\/p>\n

At which point, President Trump twigged. \u2018So I realised: that\u2019s why she lasted 70 years without a complaint \u2013 because she was so good at it. The rest of us would have said, \u201cOh, I liked so-and-so\u201d. But she was so clever. And I know she liked me because we talked a lot.\u2019<\/p>\n

She was \u2013 as he told me more than once \u2013 \u2018unbelievable\u2019.<\/p>\n

For all his recent broadsides aimed at Sir Keir Starmer and the state of Britain\u2019s Armed Forces, Mr Trump\u2019s affection for Britain and, above all, for the monarchy, runs deep.<\/p>\n

\"Donald <\/p>\n

Donald Trump was left impressed by Queen Elizabeth’s diplomacy during his time with her<\/p>\n

\"Trump <\/p>\n

Trump said King Charles’ battle with cancer was ‘something that’s down a lot of other people’ and admired his resilience. Trump and Charles pictured with First Lady Melania Trump in 2019<\/p>\n

The man who identified and codified the concept of soft power, Harvard\u2019s Professor Joseph Nye, told me that the English language and the Royal Family remain the UK\u2019s two greatest soft power assets.<\/p>\n

This explained why, just three months after President Trump\u2019s state visit to the UK last September, I found myself sitting at breakfast with him at his Florida golf club and then at dinner at his Mar-a-Lago home. The only reason I was there was because he had agreed to an informal chat about the monarchy.<\/p>\n

I had previously interviewed Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush about links with Queen Elizabeth II. Mr Trump, though, will always retain the distinction of being the last state visitor of her record-breaking reign.<\/p>\n

Over 70 years, she had welcomed 112 heads of state, from General de Gaulle to Nelson Mandela, two Popes, three emperors and a shah. And Mr Trump had been the very last one. He was also an ardent Anglophile, being half-British by descent (his mother was born on the Isle of Lewis). Mr Trump immediately asked me about the King and his health. It was not small talk. \u2018He\u2019s fantastic and he has fought very hard. He\u2019s a fighter,\u2019 Mr Trump said firmly. \u2018We\u2019re close. I have a really good relationship with him.<\/p>\n

\u2018Let me just give you the bottom line. He\u2019s a great guy and he\u2019s grown so much in the last ten years and especially over the last couple of years as King. His fight has shown that.\u2019<\/p>\n

The King\u2019s battle with cancer, he said, was \u2018something that\u2019s taken down a lot of other people\u2019.As we shall see, that personal regard for the King may well have a direct and significant effect on one aspect of US foreign policy during his presidency.<\/p>\n

Mr Trump remains extremely proud that he was the first (and \u2013 he very much hopes \u2013 the last) president of the United States to make two state visits to Britain. Even before then, he had been very keen to meet the late Queen following his first election as president in 2016.<\/p>\n

His first regal encounter would take place in 2018 during an official trip (a notch below a full state visit) to see then prime minister Theresa May. As the British foreign secretary at that time, Jeremy Hunt, later admitted: \u2018We were told by the Americans, \u201cIf you want him to come and it involves tea with the Queen, he\u2019ll come\u201d.\u2019<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The President referred to Prince William as ‘remarkable’ and said Catherine had ‘performed so incredibly’ during her cancer battle<\/p>\n

\"As <\/p>\n

As a permanent reminder of the Queen, Trump acquired a signed reproduction of the last official portrait of Elizabeth II<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The signed portrait hanging in the dining room at Mar-a-Lago in Florida. Picture taken by Robert Hardman<\/p>\n

Before that tea, there was the usual inspection of the Guard of Honour. Mr Trump\u2019s media critics made much of his alleged \u2018rudeness\u2019 walking down the ranks of the Coldstream Guards in front of the Queen, when, in fact, he had done exactly the right thing: the guest should always go first.<\/p>\n

They formed an immediate rapport, said one of those present, over the fact that they both had Scottish mothers and Scottish land (Balmoral in her case, golf courses in his).<\/p>\n

It helps explain why that initial meeting, scheduled for between 15 and 20 minutes, lasted for the best part of an hour. Afterwards, Mr Trump gladly posed for individual photos with the Queen\u2019s staff at the bottom of the stairs.<\/p>\n

\u2018No one\u2019s too proud not to have a selfie with me!\u2019 he said, beckoning a very senior (if bashful) courtier across for a shot.<\/p>\n

The tea party was just a trial run for the full state visit the following June, when the President and First Lady, Melania Trump, arrived and the two heads of state renewed their easy rapport.<\/p>\n

The next day, they sat next to each other at commemorations to mark the 75th anniversary of D-Day on Southsea Common. The Queen told the veterans: \u2018It is with humility and pleasure on behalf of the entire country \u2013 indeed the whole free world \u2013 that I say to you all, thank you.\u2019<\/p>\n

After the ceremony, the Lord Chamberlain, Earl Peel, had the formal duty of accompanying the Trumps to Southampton Airport for their onward flight to commemorate the Normandy landings in France.<\/p>\n

As Lord Peel bid farewell on behalf of the Queen, Mr Trump put his hand on his arm and declared: \u2018So far as the Queen\u2019s concerned, I\u2019ve only got one thing to say. She\u2019s one hell of a lady!\u2019<\/p>\n

\"As <\/p>\n

As Lord Peel bid farewell on behalf of the Queen, Mr Trump put his hand on his arm and declared: \u2018So far as the Queen\u2019s concerned, I\u2019ve only got one thing to say. She\u2019s one hell of a lady!\u2019<\/p>\n

\"Robert <\/p>\n

Robert Hardman with Donald Trump at the International Golf Club West Palm Beach<\/p>\n

Following Mr Trump\u2019s defeat in the 2020 presidential election, the Queen went on to meet the last of the 14 US presidents she would know in her lifetime.<\/p>\n

Joe Biden had flown into Britain in June 2021 for the G7 summit, hosted by Boris Johnson in Cornwall.<\/p>\n

The British government had not wanted to trouble the Queen just two months after the death of Prince Philip. However, she regarded duty and routine as the best way to deal with personal sadness.<\/p>\n

At the summit, she helped break the ice as the heads of state stood stiffly in their socially distanced places for the group photo. \u2018Aren\u2019t you supposed to look like you\u2019re enjoying yourselves?\u2019 she asked, and smiles broke out. Two days later, she was laying on tea for President Biden and First Lady at Windsor. Whereas Donald Trump had strolled up the stairs, Mr Biden had needed the old elevator to bring him up to the Oak Room in the private wing of the castle.<\/p>\n

It was a very happy moment, however. \u2018I loved her sense of independence,\u2019 the First Lady, Dr Jill Biden, recalled. \u2018She had a big teapot. And Joe said to her, \u201cHere, let me help you\u201d. The Queen had been quite insistent, however. \u201cNo, no, no. You sit. I will serve you\u201d.\u2019<\/p>\n

It was the Bidens who attended the Queen\u2019s funeral in 2022. The First Lady returned to Britain to represent the USA the following May at the Coronation of King Charles III. All the King\u2019s realms \u2013 14 of them in addition to Britain \u2013 would expect a visit from their new sovereign. He started with the two largest. In 2024, he visited Australia. More significant, in May 2025, was a very brief trip to a very worried Canada.<\/p>\n

Since winning his second US election in 2024, Donald Trump had repeatedly expressed a desire to annex the country. After winning the 2025 Canadian general election, the new prime minister, Mark Carney, asked the King of Canada to open the next session of Parliament.<\/p>\n

It was especially challenging for the King since his British prime minister, Sir Keir Starmer, had just invited Mr Trump on a state visit to the UK. However, Charles could draw on more than half a century on the world stage. His quietly assertive message was clear enough, especially when he reached his conclusion: \u2018As the anthem reminds us, \u201cThe True North\u201d is indeed strong and free.\u2019<\/p>\n

\"King <\/p>\n

King Charles during a state visit to Australia in 2024. The following year he visited Canada, which has experienced increased tensions with the US over Trump’s tariffs<\/p>\n

A \u2018speech from the Throne\u2019 would not normally generate applause. This one received two standing ovations. Washington would understand that monarchs act on the advice of their prime ministers, yet this speech had required very careful calibration. That the King had succeeded was evident four months later, as Mr Trump\u2019s second state visit to the UK began with a spectacular cavalcade clattering through Windsor Home Park.<\/p>\n

The Secret Service had never allowed any US president to ride in a public carriage procession on security grounds. However, the King knew that it would mean a great deal to Mr Trump and arranged a private one. Past Prince Albert\u2019s dairy and sepulchral Frogmore they rode, up to the top of the Long Walk and through the George IV Gate into the Quadrangle.<\/p>\n

There, the largest Guard of Honour ever mounted for a state visit \u2013 three companies \u2013 awaited the President\u2019s inspection.<\/p>\n

By the end of the day, Mr Trump had been treated to more immaculate drill, trotting and gun salutes than any visitor since the reign of Queen Victoria.<\/p>\n

That evening, in white tie, the President heard the King reflect: \u2018The ocean may still divide us but in so many other ways, we are now the closest of kin.\u2019 His speech did not actually talk of a \u2018special relationship\u2019 (too boastful, perhaps). President Trump, however, did not hold back. \u2018The word special does not begin to do it justice,\u2019 he declared as he saluted the King for giving \u2018everything he\u2019s got\u2019.<\/p>\n

He praised Shakespeare, Dickens, the Magna Carta and the way in which the \u2018incredible . . . unbelievable . . . lionhearted people of this kingdom defeated Napoleon, unleashed the Industrial Revolution, destroyed slavery and defended civilisation in the darkest days of fascism and communism.\u2019<\/p>\n

The Sandringham exorcism<\/p>\n

Not long after the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, some of the Sandringham housemaids had reported a mysterious and unhappy spiritual presence in one of the rooms. There were subsequent reports of an exorcism \u2013 not true, said an old friend of the Queen. \u2018She got the parson in,\u2019 recalled Lady Penn, \u2018and he agreed to have a communion service \u2013 just Her Majesty, Princess Margaret and me. He sensed a troubled soul unable to leave and he thought it was Diana.\u2019 The Queen had a swift answer to that: \u2018I shouldn\u2019t think so. Diana didn\u2019t like Sandringham much.\u2019<\/p>\n

<!- – ad: https:\/\/mads.dailymail.co.uk\/v8\/us\/royals\/none\/article\/other\/mpu_factbox.html?id=mpu_factbox_1 – ->\n<\/p>\n

It was hard to recall the last time that a politician, even a British one, had been so unequivocally generous about imperial Britain. And it came from the leader of the first country to break away from it.<\/p>\n

Sitting down with President Trump over breakfast three months later, I began by asking him about that second state visit.<\/p>\n

British hospitality had impressed, not least the sight of the table in St George\u2019s Hall laid out end to end for 160 guests. Mr Trump joked that his new White House ballroom would be considerably bigger.<\/p>\n

He was well aware that the King had gone the extra mile to make his welcome an exceptional one. \u2018He did make it a great state visit,\u2019 he recalled. I observed that his speech had been one which no British politician would make these days. \u2018It came from the heart, right,\u2019 he shrugged.<\/p>\n

The President had been much impressed by the Prince and Princess of Wales. In his Windsor speech, he had praised the King\u2019s \u2018remarkable son\u2019. Shortly after being re-elected in 2024, Mr Trump had met Prince William in Paris at the re-opening of the Cathedral of Notre Dame \u2013 indeed, the president-elect had travelled to meet the prince, not the other way round.<\/p>\n

Their talk had overrun for so long that the \u00c9lys\u00e9e Palace had rung up the British Embassy to see when Mr Trump would be joining President Macron for dinner.<\/p>\n

In Florida, the President\u2019s mind was on the Princess of Wales. \u2018How is the princess doing?\u2019 he asked me. He had been impressed by her dedication to duty both before and after her cancer diagnosis became known in March 2024.<\/p>\n

\u2018She performed so incredibly because that\u2019s a very tough position, and you couldn\u2019t do better than the way she did,\u2019 he reflected. \u2018And then she became ill and she didn\u2019t want to talk about it and wanted to keep it private. And they were so nasty to her \u2013 saying that there was something wrong with her.\u2019 He shook his head, recalling the spiteful online gossip following her absence from the public gaze in early 2024, prior to her remarkable message to the world, asking for understanding and private time.<\/p>\n

\u2018And once they\u2019d found out, she went on.\u2019 He wondered about the delay in explaining the situation. \u2018Why didn\u2019t she want people to know?\u2019 he asked. \u2018Were certain people embarrassed?\u2019 I explained that the princess\u2019s priority, as ever, was her children and that she had wanted to tell them at the appropriate moment. \u2018I see. She wanted to wait,\u2019 he nodded.<\/p>\n

He would not be drawn on prevailing Royal Family dramas, preferring to dwell on the late Queen. \u2018I had a really good relationship with her,\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n

One senior member of her staff said that she had found him \u2018charming, tall, tanned, big, courteous, mid-century \u2013 not at all how he had been portrayed.\u2019<\/p>\n

One thing which had particularly struck the late Queen about Mr Trump, according to aides, was his energy. Mr Trump, said one staffer, had \u2018bounced\u2019 up and down the stairs at both Windsor and the Palace. \u2018I had no choice,\u2019 the President recalled, \u2018and there are a lot of stairs at Windsor and the Palace!\u2019<\/p>\n

Mr Trump explained that he had wanted a permanent reminder of the Queen and had given the matter a great deal of thought. He had recently acquired a signed reproduction of the last official portrait of Elizabeth II (she had sat for more than 200 during her lifetime).<\/p>\n

The Polish-British artist Basia Kaczmarowska-Hamilton had painted her at Windsor just four months before her death. Basia went on to paint Mr Trump and recently gave him a copy of that royal portrait. \u2018She was so great. I wanted to hang her picture in a room where there is no one else on the wall. You must take a look,\u2019 he said. \u2018I hope you approve.\u2019<\/p>\n

Later, I looked around Mar-a-Lago and went into the palatial dining room, modelled on Rome\u2019s Chigi Palace, which Mr Trump uses for summit meetings. And there, in the middle of a fresco of a medieval ship, was the Queen, in pink.<\/p>\n

During another conversation, the President asked what I thought of his quest to annex Greenland. \u2018Do you think I should go to war with Denmark over Greenland?\u2019 he asked mischievously.<\/p>\n

I replied that this would probably destroy Nato and, while we were on the subject, could he please leave Canada alone, too. It had been a staunch ally through history, a gallant D-Day partner and attempting to acquire it would undoubtedly make the King of Canada unhappy. That prompted a slight pause. \u2018Do they still recognise the King? Or have they stopped that?\u2019 he wondered.<\/p>\n

I said that they did indeed still recognise him as head of state. \u2018But they have these terrible politicians. They\u2019re nice to my face and then they say bad things behind my back,\u2019 he replied, adding that the cold weather meant that most Canadians lived in the far south and were only just over the US border anyway.<\/p>\n

\u2018The problem is some guy drew that straight line to make a border. He should just have drawn it 50 miles further north and then there wouldn\u2019t be a problem.\u2019<\/p>\n

However, Mr Trump conceded that some things might be beyond even him during the rest of his presidency. \u2018I suppose the Canadians have got 200 years of history and all that \u201cOh, Canada\u201d thing,\u2019 he reflected. \u2018You can\u2019t deal with that in three-and-a-half years. I guess it\u2019s not going to happen!\u2019<\/p>\n

This was the closest I had heard to an acknowledgement that, as long as Canada had the King, Mr Trump was not going to usurp him. As he left for his next appointment, I handed him a copy of my biography of the King. \u2018I hope you gave him good reviews,\u2019 he said. \u2018He\u2019s a fantastic guy.\u2019<\/p>\n

There could be no doubting the esteem in which the late Queen was held by Mr Trump.<\/p>\n

He had also voiced the highest praise for her son and heir, who appeared to be the primary reason why he was no longer sabre-rattling at Canada.<\/p>\n

By any metric, this was soft power beyond the grasp of any politician and has to be a central element of any assessment of the legacy of Elizabeth II.<\/p>\n

Mr Trump would continue to test the transatlantic alliance to the limit \u2013 not least in January 2026 with his absurd claim that Nato allies including Britain had \u2018stayed a little back\u2019 from the Afghan frontline.<\/p>\n

He later rescinded the claim, though only with regard to Britain (after royal \u2018concerns\u2019 had been relayed via diplomatic channels).<\/p>\n

Whatever else the monarchy\u2019s critics might say, it remains hard to question its continued relevance.<\/p>\n

Adapted from Elizabeth II by Robert Hardman (Pan Macmillan, \u00a322) to be published April 9th. \u00a9 Robert Hardman 2026. To order a copy for \u00a318.70 (offer valid to 18\/04\/26; UK P&P free on orders over \u00a325) go to www.mailshop.co.uk\/books<\/a> or call 020 3176 2937.<\/p>\n

The Queen’s shocking frankness<\/p>\n

To hear a candid, straight-talking Queen in private could surprise those used to the reticent public figure. \u2018She could be very frank with her opinions. I was very struck by how forthcoming she could be about people,\u2019 said one former (Labour) minister. A former (Tory) Cabinet minister described her outlook as \u2018not the views of an aristocrat, or a very rich, out-of-touch person\u2019. She hated prevarication. Lord Peel well remembered her first words when she appointed him as her Lord Chamberlain: \u2018Do you really want this job?\u2019 she asked with a big smile. She expressed similar sentiments to Boris Johnson when he arrived to be appointed as prime minister in 2019.<\/p>\n

A senior clergyman awaiting a royal verdict on a carefully prepared sermon was both amused and bemused by her parting remark: \u2018So many long words, bishop!\u2019<\/p>\n

Having won the 2015 election by a tiny margin, David Cameron arrived at the Palace to be greeted with a blunt assessment: \u2018You haven\u2019t got a very big majority.\u2019 To which he instantly replied (much to the Queen\u2019s amusement): \u2018But it\u2019s getting bigger all the time.\u2019<\/p>\n

Entire dramas have been based on speculation about the relationship between the Queen and her first female prime minister. What really happened? One common perception is that Mrs Thatcher did all the talking, based on a much-repeated remark attributed to the Queen: \u2018Mrs Thatcher never listens to a word I say.\u2019<\/p>\n

One of the Queen\u2019s most senior advisers, however, provides an intriguing counter to this. \u2018I would often hear the Queen say to someone that \u201cso-and-so wouldn\u2019t let me get a word in edgeways\u201d,\u2019 says the former aide.<\/p>\n

\u2018Except I knew that she very often had got a word in edgeways. So it would be a shame if people are left imagining that she was easily cowed or hectored, because she was not. This was just a very clever deflection. If someone said, \u201cWhy didn\u2019t you tell Mrs Thatcher to do x?\u201d, it would be much easier to say, \u201cI can never get a word in\u201d. But it was really just the Queen\u2019s way of gently saying: \u201cBack off\u201d. Anyone with a greater ego would find that impossible but the Queen had a very low ego.\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In yesterday’s extract from his definitive biography of the late Queen, ROBERT HARDMAN explained the truth behind claims…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7109,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[169,1760,5,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-7108","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uk","8":"tag-dailymail","9":"tag-royals","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@UnitedKingdom\/116356468063304112","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7108","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7108"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7108\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7109"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7108"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7108"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}