Prince William And King Charles Lost Their Minds Over This Donald Trump Tweet
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When William, the Prince of Wales, and Catherine, the Princess of Wales, were dating, they experienced a similar amount of intrusion and pressure from the media and paparazzi to Princess Diana. As their relationship became more and more serious, the attention only worsened. This culminated in 2012, when a newly married Kate was photographed sunbathing topless by the pool at a private château in Provence, France (via BBC News). The photographs were subsequently circulated in the tabloid media and published in the French edition of Closer magazine, an Italian gossip magazine, and the Irish Daily Star.
The Prince and Princess of Wales filed for damages (via The New York Times), and in 2017, the Daily Mail reported they were awarded £91,000 or $120,000. "The incident is reminiscent of the worst excesses of the press and paparazzi during the life of [Princess Diana]," a statement from St James's Palace read, "and all the more upsetting to the Duke and Duchess for being so."
Many condemned the photographs being taken, but former president Donald Trump decided to share his controversial take on the matter on Twitter.
Donald Trump blamed Kate Middleton for the photos on Twitter
In two tweets published on September 17, 2012, Donald Trump wrote (via the Daily Mail), "Who wouldn't take Kate's picture and make lots of money if she does the nude sunbathing thing. Come on Kate!" and "Kate Middleton is great — but she shouldn't be sunbathing in the nude — only herself to blame." Trump also spoke on "Fox & Friends" about the situation (via The Daily Beast), saying: "While we're all fans of Kate, can you imagine... why would she be outside in the nude? Why would she be standing in the nude in a swimming pool or wherever she was. She's Kate. It's terrible what they did, it's terrible to take pictures, but boy, how can you do a thing so stupid?"
In Christopher Andersen's biography of King Charles III, "The King: Life of Charles III," the author writes that a butler at Clarence House heard "torrents of profanity" from Charles, William, the Prince of Wales, and Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex. Andersen also reminds readers of when Trump said some questionable things about Princess Diana. The interview, which took place on "The Howard Stern Show" in 1997, resurfaced in 2017 (via The Washington Post). When asked by Stern if he "could have nailed her," Trump replied, "I think I could have" (via People).
Prince William and King Charles allegedly tried to stop Trump from visiting the UK
Unsurprisingly, when Donald Trump was scheduled to visit the UK for his first official state visit as president, the royal family wasn't too happy about it. According to Christopher Andersen (via the Daily Mail), King Charles, Prince William, and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, tried to "discourage" Trump from coming to Buckingham Palace. Andersen wrote in his book, "The King: The Life of Charles III," that they "burned up the phone lines between Clarence House and Kensington Palace, with all three princes agreeing to work behind the scenes to discourage Trump's visit."
The author says that the royal family was as "fascinated" with Trump's Twitter antics as the rest of the British public was (via Newsweek). "At every opportunity, including Prince Harry's wedding reception, Charles took his wealthy and influential American friends aside and gently prodded them for information," suggesting that the former president was "detached from reality."
When Trump eventually met Queen Elizabeth II for the first time in 2018, it wasn't in the capacity of a state visit — instead, a "working visit" (via the Evening Standard). This was due to the controversy among the British public over Trump visiting the UK in the first place.