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Prince Andrew, Duke of York and Prince Charles, Prince of Wales attend a Service of Thanksgiving to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee at St Paul's Cathedral on June 5, 2012 in London, England. For only the second time in its history the UK celebrates the Diamond Jubilee of a monarch. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II celebrates the 60th anniversary of her ascension to the throne. Thousands of wellwishers from around the world have flocked to London to witness the spectacle of the weekend's celebrations. (Photo by Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images) / U.S. President-elect Donald Trump arrives at a House Republicans Conference meeting at the Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill on November 13, 2024 in Washington, DC. As is tradition with incoming presidents, Trump is traveling to Washington, DC to meet with U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House as well as meet with Republican congressmen on Capitol Hill. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images) / WikiCommons picture of Buckingham Palace
Photos by Andrew Harnik, Max Mumby/ Getty Images & WikiCommons

Buckingham Palace grits its teeth once again as preparation for Donald Trump’s next ego-massaging presidential visit begins

Psst, hide the good silverware.

The hardworking servants at royal residences are world-class experts in dealing with wealthy twits. Consider the reports that King Charles requires a servant to squeeze toothpaste onto his toothbrush or the anecdote that, in his mid-50s, he “shrieked” in panic the first time he saw clingfilm. Perhaps even that’s low-key compared to Prince Andrew’s notoriously bad treatment of servants, including tantrums in which he would “shout and scream” if his teddy bears weren’t put on his bed in the right order.

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All of which is to say that these stiff upper-lipped attendants require to have nerves of steel, if only to resist the urge to bop their masters on the nose while they’re raving about some insignificant detail. But even this discipline is put to the test when the Trumps are in town.

Now that Donald Trump is settling back into the White House he’s considering his first state visit. Speaking to reporters after his conversation with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Trump suggested an imminent visit to London was likely, saying “It could be Saudi Arabia, it could be U.K. … Traditionally, it could be U.K.”

That comment meant all hands on deck for Starmer, who apparently got straight on the phone to Buckingham Palace and told them to start pressing the linen and polishing the silverware before the U.K. government mails out an official invitation. All this will mean a lot of work for the palace servants — but it’s one thing being at the beck and call of some calcified aristocratic snob and another attending Trump’s cheeseburger-fueled whims.

Trump’s last state visit to London took place in 2019 and royal observers were left aghast at Donald and Melania’s repeated breaches of palace protocol. For example, when meeting Queen Elizabeth II Trump repeatedly turned his back on her (apparently a big royal no-no) with Melania going in for hugs and kisses rather than curtsies when she met Camilla. To be fair, the United States did have that whole Revolutionary War thing precisely so they didn’t have to bow and scrape to a monarch, so that’s understandable.

But what especially stung Queen Elizabeth was a far more prosaic bit of rudeness: Trump was repeatedly late to their meetings. The Queen was known to be a stickler for punctuality, which she understandably considered crucial given her busy schedule. So we can imagine her fuming after she extended an invitation to the Trumps for tea at Windsor Castle only for them to rock up late, leaving the nonagenarian sweltering in 80-degree heat and (we assume) pursing her lips and tapping her watch in annoyance.

The trip was also soured after Londoners made their thoughts on Trump being in town clear, flying a giant inflatable balloon of him as a diaper-wearing baby. That clearly stung Trump, who later said “I guess when they put out blimps to make me feel unwelcome, no reason for me to go to London” and that “I used to love London as a city. I haven’t been there in a long time. But when they make you feel unwelcome, why would I stay there?”

The trip would also likely see him at odds with Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, who has been an outright and open critic of the Trump administration. There’s no love lost between the two: Khan was recently forthright about Trump and “resurgent fascism,” with Trump previously having dubbed Khan a “stone cold loser,” “nasty,” “dumb and incompetent,” and that he’s “done a terrible job.”

So, basically, if Trump is booking a flight to Heathrow expect drama in London, especially as the coal-burning president will be at odds with the environmentally-minded King Charles. That said, Trump appeared to get on famously with the “really really handsome” Prince William, so maybe put him front and center.


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David James
I'm a writer/editor who's been at the site since 2015. Love writing about video games and will crawl over broken glass to write about anything related to Hideo Kojima. But am happy to write about anything and everything, so long as it's interesting!