Donald Trump has made yet another protocol faux pas after declaring that King Charles ‘agrees’ with his policy that Iran should not have nuclear weapons.
During a speech at the White House state dinner in Washington last night, the US President defied King Charles’ mandated political stance of neutrality when he veered off course and referred to the war.
‘We’re doing a little work in the Middle East right now. And we’re doing very well,’ Mr Trump told diners. ‘We have militarily defeated that particular opponent and we are never going to let that opponent ever – Charles agrees with me, even more than I do – we will never let that opponent have a nuclear weapon. They know that.’
In response to Mr Trump’s claim, Buckingham Palace declared that the King is ‘naturally mindful of his Government’s longstanding and well-known position on the prevention of nuclear proliferation.’
However, by appearing to publicly reveal the monarch’s private views, the POTUS went against traditional royal protocol which dictates that the Monarch be strictly neutral in discussion of political issues.
It comes after Trump raised eyebrows earlier this week, by tapping the King on the shoulder when he and First Lady Melania Trump welcomed Charles and Queen Camilla to the White House.
Yet he is far from the first politician to defy royal protocol rules and etiquette.
From Emmanuel Macron striding ahead of King Charles, to Joe Biden revealing intimate details of his talks with the late Queen Elizabeth II – such mishaps are seemingly a rather prominent sight during state visits.
President Trump
During Trump’s first ever meeting with the late Queen Elizabeth II in 2018, the President triggered a wave of social media attention by walking in front of the monarch
Earlier this week, the US President hit the headlines for a protocol gaffe by touching the King as they headed into the White House.
Body language expert Judi James told the Daily Mail that the touch would be classified as a ‘breach’ of royal protocol, but King Charles did not seem to mind.
‘Charles has always seemed more relaxed about that than his mother [Queen Elizabeth II], and Trump’s gesture was extremely tempered for Trump,’ she said.
Mr Trump had also put on a tactile display when meeting King Charles in London last year, grabbing Charles above the elbow during their initial greeting.
Meanwhile, during the President’s first ever meeting with the late Queen Elizabeth II in 2018, he triggered a wave of social media attention by walking in front of the monarch as they inspected a guard of honour.
Royal etiquette states that one should never turn their back on the monarch, or walk in front of her, with prime ministers traditionally backing out of a room after their weekly audience with the monarch.
The following year when the US President returned to the UK for a state banquet, the President also appeared to breach royal protocol by touching the Queen on the back as she stood for his toast.
Joe Biden
Former US president Joe Biden faced accusations of royal protocol breaches during his time in the White House by revealing contents of his private talks with the late Queen in 2021
Former US president Joe Biden also faced accusations of royal protocol breaches during his time in the White House by revealing contents of his private talks with the late Queen in 2021.
Speaking to reporters, Biden, who visited the monarch with his wife Jill, said that the Queen had ‘wanted to know’ about the Russian and Chinese presidents and they had a ‘long talk’.
In response, royal commentator and expert Richard Fitzwilliams told the Daily Mail: ‘It has been a rule that an audience with the Queen is strictly private and to reveal its contents is a breach of trust.
‘President Biden, by revealing that the Queen had asked about the Russian and Chinese leaders, did breach this rule.’
And his delay in removing his sunglasses during their meeting also sparked criticism of a royal protocol breach.
Grant Harrold, a former butler to King Charles and Queen Camilla, told Newsweek: ‘It is a breach of protocol. I get the sun might have been shining in his eyes but the Queen didn’t have sunglasses on. Jill, the First Lady, didn’t have sunglasses on.’
In 2023, Biden also prompted discussions of a protocol breach when the pair met for tea at Windsor Castle by placing his hand on the monarch’s back.
The President was seen to do this twice more after inspecting the guard of honour, formed of the then Prince of Wales’s Company of the Welsh Guards.
Michelle Obama
Former First Lady Michelle Obama made a rather high-profile protocol faux pas when she hugged the late Queen Elizabeth during a G20 reception in 2009
Former First Lady Michelle Obama made a rather high-profile protocol faux pas when she hugged the late Queen Elizabeth during a Buckingham Palace reception in 2009 with then president Barack Obama.
Her Majesty did return the embrace though, and Buckingham Palace later responded to the controversy, stating that it was a ‘mutual and spontaneous display of affection and appreciation’.
Later reflecting on the protocol faux pas, Michelle said she had no regrets as it had been a ‘natural human reaction’.
‘What is true among world leaders is that there are people who handle protocol, and usually the people they’re representing don’t want all that protocol,’ she said.
‘So you wonder well who are you doing this for because they don’t want it, we don’t want it.
‘But it’s just the way things are. So I don’t know that I could have done anything differently because it was a natural human reaction.’
Emmanuel Macron
Last summer, French President Emmanuel Macron seemingly broke strict royal protocol after he walked in front of King Charles at Windsor Castle
Last summer, French President Emmanuel Macron came under fire for seemingly breaking strict royal protocol after he walked in front of King Charles during a ceremonial inspection at Windsor Castle.
Macron, who was invited to inspect the troops in the Upper Ward of Windsor as part of a State visit, was seen strolling ahead of the monarch while reviewing the Grenadier Guards and Scots Guards.
Social media erupted with criticism, with some users suggesting Macron’s behaviour was a deliberate snub.
The French leader was also accused of making a second protocol breach by tapping the back of the King’s Guard while inspecting the troops with Charles.
In line with traditional etiquette, individuals are not supposed to touch the guards, especially while they are on ceremonial duty.
David Cameron
In 2014, David Cameron apologised to the Queen after he was caught boasting she had ‘purred down the line’ when he called to tell her Scotland had rejected independence.
The astonishing slip came as the former prime minister chatted with billionaire US media mogul Michael Bloomberg at a trade event.
Lord Cameron appeared to be unaware that his conversation with the former New York mayor was being picked up by the microphone of a camera, which was filming the two men walking into the meeting.
Smiling broadly, the former Conservative Party leader could be heard saying: ‘The definition of relief, if you are prime minister of the United Kingdom, is ringing up Her Majesty the Queen and saying, ‘Your Majesty, it is all right, it’s OK.’ That was something. That’s relief. She purred down the line.’
At the time, the late Scottish politician Alex Salmond accused the former PM of ‘breaking every rule in the book’ and added that he was ‘not surprised that the Palace appears to be extremely displeased with the former prime minister.’
Boris Johnson
Just hours after becoming prime minister, Boris Johnson was accused of breaching royal protocol by revealing intimate details of his first meeting with the late Queen Elizabeth
Just hours after becoming Prime Minister, Boris Johnson was accused of breaching royal protocol by revealing intimate details of his first meeting with the late Queen Elizabeth.
The newly-appointed leader was reported to have told staff in No10 that the Queen had told him: ‘I don’t know why anyone would want the job.’
Revealing private discussions with the head of state is a major breach of royal protocol.
Royal biographer Robert Lacey later told The Telegraph: ‘It is a breach of protocol. prime ministers – and ex-prime ministers – do not even reveal these sort of things in their memoirs, let alone on their first occasion in office.
‘I don’t think constitutionalists, or anyone in Buckingham Palace, will be remotely amused by this.’
