Fox News host Jesse Watters was escorted away from Queen Camilla after breaching protocol with a joke about gun violence during a pre-dinner walkthrough at a White House state dinner.
Queen Camilla’s beehive chat with Watters ended abruptly when his gun remark triggered security intervention. By: ZUMAPRESS.com / MEGA
Watters recounted the moment on the April 30 episode of The Five. Speaking to the camera, he described his exchange with the Queen, saying, “So we go down and there’s the Queen, and I said, ‘How’s the beehive?’ and she goes, ‘It was very good, no one got stung.’ And then I said, ‘This is Washington, D.C. — if the bees don’t get you, the guns will.'”
A member of the royal security detail quickly pulled Watters away, ending the interaction. He later admitted on The Five that he “started mumbling” and did not know what he was saying after being removed.
Watters was among guests introduced to the royal couple before the banquet. He also briefly spoke with King Charles III, recalling, “I’m on Fox and I have two shows,” to which King Charles replied, “Well, they must really love you here.”
The Metropolitan Police Department reported gun violence in Washington, D.C. reached a 30-year low in 2024, despite President Donald Trump’s claims the city was “lawless.” In August 2025, Trump took control of the city’s police force and deployed the National Guard, calling it “a historic action to rescue our nation’s capital from crime, bloodshed, bedlam, and squalor.”
Trump’s deployment of the National Guard in D.C. framed the backdrop to Watters’ controversial joke. By: ZUMAPRESS.com / MEGA
Watters was not the only Fox News figure at the dinner. Greg Gutfeld also attended and later joked on-air about “horsing around” with Queen, drawing criticism. He recalled his exchange with King Charles, saying Trump introduced him as the host of “the No. 1 show on late night.”
Royal visit aimed at repairing relations
The dinner was the centerpiece of a four-day state visit by royal couple to the United States, hosted by Trump, beginning April 27. It marked the first state visit by a British monarch since May 2007, when Queen Elizabeth II visited during George W. Bush’s presidency.
The visit coincided with the United States Semiquincentennial, marking the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Buckingham Palace said the trip would highlight the “historic connections and the modern bilateral relationship.”
The couple’s visit was framed as a reset in U.S.–U.K. relations after disagreements on trade and security. By: AdMedia / MEGA
Charles and Camilla later attended a garden party at the British ambassador’s residence in Washington. The event featured scones, 3,000 sandwiches and 650 guests “representing the connection between the U.S. and U.K.”
Charles also delivered a rare joint address to Congress, emphasizing the U.S.-U.K. partnership and praising NATO. He said that despite challenging times, the two countries can defend shared democratic values to promote security and prosperity.