Harry and Meghan visit Bondi Beach in Sydney in April. Photograph: Jonathan Brady/Pool PA/APView image in fullscreenHarry and Meghan visit Bondi Beach in Sydney in April. Photograph: Jonathan Brady/Pool PA/APTrump ‘happy’ about Harry and Meghan UK return: ‘I was not a fan’President praises late queen and King Charles but says duke and duchess treated royal family ‘with great disrespect’
Donald Trump has weighed in on the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s move back to Britain, declaring: “I’m happy about it.”
“I was not a fan,” the US president told reporters during a question-and-answer session following a press conference with travel executives on Wednesday. “I had a very good relationship with the queen, really good. I got to know her very well. A really good relationship with King Charles – I knew him as Prince Charles and King Charles. I’ve known him for a long time.”
Read moreTrump, describing Charles as a “great, great guy”, said he thought Harry and Meghan “treated the royal family with great disrespect”.
“I didn’t like it,” he also said, adding, “ If I were the royal family, I would not have taken them back.”
The couple moved back to the UK last week, six years after they left for the US. They had lived in California since 2020. They have yet to speak publicly about their plans, are said to be settling for an “extended period” of time amid speculation as to how long they will stay, and where they will live.
Trump has a longstanding fascination and admiration for the royal family, which he traces back to a childhood memory of watching Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation on TV in 1953 with his mother Mary Anne Trump, who was born in Scotland. Trump adored the late queen, whom he described as a “great woman” who had “really never made a mistake” during her decades on the throne.
The king is reportedly looking forward to spending more time with the duke and duchess in a personal capacity, but Harry, 41, and Meghan, 45, will remain private individuals. They previously gave up their official royal duties.
The couple are not expected to be offered a “half-in half-out” option, after that was firmly rejected by Queen Elizabeth II.
Questions remain unanswered, including whether British taxpayers will foot the bill for the pair’s security detail following their return to the UK.
