On the third day of their visit to the USA (29/4), the King and Queen Camilla commemorated the victims of 11her September 2001 with a wreath-laying ceremony at the monument located at the site of , where they were given a tour by Michael Bloomberg, former mayor of New York and well-known billionaire businessman. The flowers contained a note expressing solidarity with the American people, which they had the opportunity to show to relatives of the victims whom they met. Among them was the Greek-born activist and actress Anthoula Katsimatidis, who had lost her life on 11or September 2001 her brother Giannis during the terrorist attack. After a hug expressing solidarity, the queen asked Anthoula Katsimatidis if she often comes to the monument, to which she answered in the affirmative, because she experiences it as a place of peace and quiet, but also of memory.
The 11or September as an example of US-UK cooperation
King Charles had insisted on the issue of the 11thher September during his previous speech to the US Congress in Washington, emphasizing that the reaction of the US and the UK in 2001 was a typical example where the response of the two powers to a challenge was immediate and completely joint. Charles’ reference to these events in 2001, which led to the war in Afghanistan and two years later, in 2003, to the Second Gulf War, contrasts with what is happening during the Third Gulf War, where the British Starmer government has not assisted the US war effort in the same way. For this reason, the American President Donald Trump had tried to involve Charles in an acceptance of the war in Iran.
During a White House dinner on April 28, in front of 120 guests, which included Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Apple’s Tim Cook and golfer Rory McIlroy, the US President said: “We’re doing a little bit of work in the Middle East now and we’re doing it very well. […] We have defeated this particular adversary militarily, and we will never let him, and Charles agrees with me even more than I do, we will never let this adversary get a nuclear weapon. They know that, and they learned it now, in a very powerful way.” Trump’s remarks have caused a diplomatic embarrassment, as the British monarch is seen as unable to express in a developed way political views that differ from those of the government.
How Trump’s statements were interpreted by the Palace
A spokesman for Buckingham Palace sought to entertain the impression that the king might have taken some similar policy initiative in the UK government’s absence, saying: “The king is of course mindful of the government’s long-standing and well-known position on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons.” The official line from British officials is that a similar stance of preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons is in line with government positions. Typically, the issue of preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons is distinct from that of actively engaging in war against it, as prevention can also occur through diplomacy. The two issues are of course de facto linked in the context of current American politics. The UK was one of the countries involved in the 2015 negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program, which included international inspections of its facilities and from which the US unilaterally withdrew during Trump’s first term. Consequently, from a formal point of view Trump’s statements do not reveal any difference between Charles and the British government.
Donald Trump’s statement shows that in the one-on-one talks he had the opportunity to discuss important geopolitical issues with Charles, with the question being whether the issue of the Falkland Islands was also discussed. An internal Pentagon memo was previously leaked, which allegedly suggested withdrawing US support for British positions on British ownership of the islands as a quasi-punishment for the UK’s lack of support for the US in the war against Iran. In any case, beyond private discussions, King Charles’ public interventions have been met with enthusiasm by American politicians, Democrats and Republicans alike, with President Trump telling reporters: “He made a very good speech. Envy”.
The meeting with Mamdani and the Kohinoor diamond
As part of the visit to the 11her September the royal couple had the opportunity for a very brief meeting with the Democratic mayor of New York Zohran Mamdani. Earlier in the day, when asked by reporters, Zohran Mamdani said he hoped to keep the focus of the event on the 9/11 victims.her September and that is why he would not discuss irrelevant political issues with Charles, so that there would be no diversion. However, when pressed by a reporter to say what he might discuss with Charles under different circumstances, the New York mayor replied that he would urge him to return the Kohinoor diamond. It is one of the largest diamonds in the world at 105.6 carats, which is part of the Crown Jewels. Its name means “Mountain of Light” in Persian. It had been offered to Queen Victoria by the East India Company, which had acquired it after the 1849 Indian War. Today it is displayed in the Tower of London, but it is claimed by India, but also by Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan. With this statement the mayor, who was born in Uganda to a family of Indian origin, raised issues of post-colonial politics. It should be noted that the diamond in question was not used during the coronation of Charles, precisely in order not to rekindle the related debate with negative publicity.
Urban Livestock and Edge Business
In New York, after the 9/11 memorialor In September, King Charles traveled to Harlem, where he fed chickens and spoke to young children in a community that supports sustainable urban farming and urban livestock farming. Dealing with the issue has been one of the passions of King Charles for many decades, according to his ecological profile. Charles had the opportunity to plant lavender and mustard seeds and attend an educational program aimed at children on the importance of nutrition. Among the spontaneous snaps was the intervention of a child who expressed to Charles his liking for the British monarch’s hair style. Charles then attended a meeting at Rockefeller Center that included business leaders from companies including Google, OpenAI, Comcast and JPMorgan Chase.
Roo the Kangaroo finds Kanga’s mother in the New York Library
Queen Camilla meanwhile met with another group of children at the New York Public Library as part of Winnie the Pooh’s 100th birthday celebrations. In this context, he donated to the Library a doll of the character Ro, which is a small kangaroo, to join the corresponding doll of Kanga’s mother and the rest of the dolls housed in the Library’s collection with the characters from the children’s books of A.A. Milne, which belonged to the author’s son Christopher Robin and were first exhibited at the site in 1987. The original Roo toy had been lost in the 1930s and has now been reconstructed by British puppeteers to complete a collection, which also includes the characters Winnie the Pooh, Piglet, Tiger, Eeyore and Kanga. The Queen’s visit to the New York library included 100 cultural guests, including actress Sarah Jessica Parker, who has linked her name to New York City.
Queen Camilla also met representatives of organizations dealing with domestic violence. However, it was commented on the fact that despite showing sensitivity to issues of domestic violence, the royal couple did not include in their program a corresponding meeting with survivors of the Epstein case. At the same time, Charles’ indirect related reference during his speech to Congress was abstract and not nominal, as he hinted: “In both of our countries it is the very fact of vibrant, dynamic, diverse and free societies that gives us our collective strength, including supporting the victims of some of the ills that so tragically exist in both of our countries today.” Some have seen here a reference to the Epstein case, although the statement is general enough to refer to other social problems. In any case, the petition takes up only half of a lengthy sentence in which he also touched on the importance of social freedom and diversity, perhaps obliquely criticizing the Trump administration’s anti-immigration policies.
The royal couple’s very busy day in New York ended with a reception at Rockefeller Center, attended by singer and songwriter Lionel Richie, fashion designer Donatella Versace, Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour and so-called ‘queen of lifestyle’ and ‘housewife diva’ Martha Stewart. King Charles expressed his admiration for Lionel Richie with his characteristically British humour.
