Donald Trump’s second state visit to the U.K. has come and gone, but not without a royal controversy or two.
Royal expert Richard Eden chimed in about the U.S. president’s carriage ride with King Charles III and pointed out something very weird about the entire charade.
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“This private carriage procession round the grounds of Windsor Castle is embarrassing, like a fairground ride to entertain the US President,” Eden wrote on X on Sept. 17. “The whole point of a #royal carriage procession is so the public can see you.”
The carriage ride took Donald and Melania Trump through the gardens and historic architecture of Windsor, but as one X user pointed out, “security risks” likely required the royal family to break protocol.
King Charles III and Donald Trump.
As the Daily Beast noted, “Normally, such horse-drawn carriage processions are done in full view of the public, such as during weddings or other high-profile occasions like the Royal Ascot horse racing event.” They also added that “the public and protesters were shielded from watching the royals,” so the royals likely wanted a smooth, uninterrupted visit with the controversial political figure.
Eden wasn’t the only one to call out the unusual pomp and circumstance for Donald Trump — French journalist Alex Taylor found it rather comedic. “I honestly find this one plain weird, all totally cut off from reality, no flag-waving actual people – and what with the rain (Macron had Windsor High St AND sun !) – it’s all a bit Monty-Pythonesque,” he wrote on X.
Even though the spectacle looked odd from the outside, it seems that the way the royals rolled out the red carpet for the president impressed him. Calling his second state visit “one of the highest honors of my life,” Donald Trump was leaning into the historic visit.
“It’s a singular privilege to be the first American president welcomed here and, if you think about it, it’s a lot of presidents and this was the second state visit, and that’s the first, and maybe that’s going to be the last time,” he bragged, per Fox News.
The president and first lady appeared to have a grand time with King Charles, Queen Camilla, Prince William, and Kate Middleton, so the break from royal protocol seems to have been worth it — at least for the sake of soft diplomacy.
Before you go, click here to see every time Queen Elizabeth has met the US Presidents!
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