King Charles III effectively reigned over Lower Manhattan on Wednesday, bringing traffic chaos, a heavy police presence, and press restrictions to the 9/11 Memorial — where Mayor Zohran Mamdani greeted the British monarch hours after saying he might urge him to return a crown jewel long disputed as a product of colonial conquest if the two spoke privately.
Footage from inside the event showed Mamdani and Charles shaking hands and briefly conversing before the king’s press secretary pushed cameras back. City Hall did not confirm what the pair discussed.
Earlier Wednesday, Mamdani was asked what he would say if he had a private moment with Charles at the memorial. After saying the focus of the wreath-laying was honoring those killed on Sept. 11, Mamdani added: “If I was to speak to the king separately from that, I would probably encourage him to return the Koh-i-Noor diamond.”
The Koh-i-Noor, now part of the British Crown Jewels, originated in India and passed through Mughal, Persian, Afghan and Sikh rulers before the British forced 10-year-old Maharaja Duleep Singh to surrender it in 1849, along with his claim to sovereignty, after annexing Punjab.
Britain’s King Charles greets New York Gov. Kathy Hochul as former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Queen Camilla look on during a visit to the 9/11 Memorial, in New York, U.S., April 29, 2026. Yuki Iwamura/Pool via REUTERS
The wreath-laying ceremony honored those killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks nearly 25 years after the day of infamy. Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mamdani, along with former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who now serves as the 9/11 Memorial chair, accompanied Charles and Queen Camilla to the somber ceremony.
Yet it was difficult for local press to get a view of the event. Hochul’s office issued RSVPs for the event, while Mamdani’s office advertised the crossover as open to the press. But local reporters were ultimately kept from viewing the ceremony itself after the British Embassy had final say.
A spokesperson for the Embassy did not respond to requests for comment at the time of publication.
Traffic enforcement agents and NYPD officers lined streets around the memorial as the royal visit locked down parts of Lower Manhattan. The 1 train skipped WTC Cortlandt in both directions from 5:45 a.m. to 3 p.m., with riders directed to Rector Street or Chambers Street.
Photo by Lloyd Mitchell
Charles and Camilla had arrived in New York on Wednesday after stops in Washington, D.C., and Virginia. Their New York itinerary included the 9/11 Memorial and the New York Public Library, where Camilla was expected to donate a “Roo” doll to the library’s Winnie-the-Pooh collection.
In Washington, Charles addressed Congress and attended a state dinner hosted by President Donald Trump. As reported by The New York Times, the British King used his congressional remarks to highlight the trans-Atlantic alliance while emphasizing themes such as checks and balances and environmental protection, amid tension between the two countries over the war in Iran. At the dinner, the two leaders praised the “special relationship,” with Charles joking that it was “an improvement on the Boston Tea Party” and presenting Trump with a bell from a British World War II submarine.
‘My king’
Maria, an Anglophile from Connecticut, waited behind barricades in Lower Manhattan on Wednesday, hoping to catch a glimpse of King Charles III.Photo by Lloyd Mitchell
The colonial history invoked by the mayor earlier in the day was also on the minds of protesters across the street from the memorial, where a small group of Sikh demonstrators rallied in support of Khalistan, a proposed independent Sikh homeland in Punjab.
“We want the British to right the wrong, the mistake that they made in 1947,” said Jagdeep Singh, a New York-based protester.
Singh said Britain should have restored Sikh sovereignty when it left India, rather than making Punjab part of the Indian Union.
“The only solution that we have is independence,” he said, adding that the group wants Britain to support Sikh self-determination and a Khalistan referendum.
Jagdeep Singh, a New York-based Khalistan supporter, held a protest sign calling on King Charles III’s to “right the wrong” 
Sikh demonstrators rallied near the 9/11 Memorial on Wednesday in support of Khalistan, a proposed independent Sikh homeland in Punjab.Photo by Lloyd Mitchell
The Khalistan movement first gained global attention in the 1980s after years of unrest in India’s Punjab region and armed conflict with the Indian state. While support for the movement is heavily suppressed within India, it has persisted among parts of the Sikh diaspora through rallies and nonbinding referendums.
Outside the security perimeter, the royal visit drew a mix of curious onlookers, devoted royal watchers, and frustrated spectators trying to traverse the locked-down streets.
One Anglophile waving a Union Jack, Maria, came from Connecticut before dawn to see the monarch she called “my king.”
“Well, ‘see’ being a relevant term,” she said from behind the barricades. “I doubt I’m going to see him, but that was the plan.”
Photo by Lloyd Mitchell 
Photo by Lloyd Mitchell
She said she left Connecticut around 5:45 a.m. and had been waiting in Lower Manhattan since about 8:30. But like other spectators and members of the press, she was too far away to see the ceremony unfold.
Speaking to amNewYork, adorned in royal paraphernalia, Maria described herself plainly: “I’m an Anglophile.” She said she still considers the late Queen Elizabeth “my queen.”
“Politicians, to me, tend to divide people,” she said. “Whereas royalty is just so much god-like majesty that tends to unite everyone, because they’re not political.”
Asked about the recent spate of “No Kings” protests against the Trump administration, Maria was unmoved.
“I don’t really know what they’re protesting, since America technically does not have a king,” she said. “So I think they’re kind of wasting their time.”
Then, mid-interview, someone appeared to mistake a passerby in the distance for the monarch.
“Charles!” Maria screamed, causing the cameras around her to snap to attention.
“No,” Maria said. “It’s just an old guy.”