Donald Trump Has A History of Offending The Royals: From Diana to Kate

Donald Trump's latest insinuation that Princess Diana and Queen Elizabeth II "kissed" his "ass" during an interview promoting a new book is not the first comment he has made that will have offended the royal family, according to a new episode of Newsweek's The Royal Report podcast.

In a recent interview with Breitbart, the former president promoted his book Letters to Trump, which includes notes written to him by high-profile public figures including Oprah Winfrey, Ronald Regan, Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Diana. Describing the people whose notes are included, Trump said: "I knew them all—and every one of them kissed my ass."

This comment notably upset Diana's brother, Charles Spencer, who took to Twitter to voice his anger at Trump.

"Surprised to hear that Donald Trump is apparently claiming that my late sister Diana wanted to "kiss his a***"," he wrote on the social media platform. "Since the one time she mentioned him to me - when he was using her good name to sell some real estate in New York - she clearly viewed him as worse than an a*** fissure."

This is not the first time the former president has spoken about the royals in a way that has caused close family members distress.

Discussing Trump's comments on The Royal Report, chief royal correspondent Jack Royston said that his history stretches back to the 1990s, shortly after Diana's death as a result of injuries sustained in a high-speed Paris car crash with then-boyfriend, Dodi Fayed.

"Essentially this is just the latest in a long line of incidents involving Donald Trump that have reportedly upset the royal family," he noted.

"Back in the '90s, shortly after Princess Diana's death, he was being interviewed by Howard Stern on the radio, and [...] Stern suggested that Trump 'could have nailed her', and Trump replied: 'I think I could have.'"

"It really wasn't long after Princess Diana's death. That would have caused a huge amount of offense and distress among the royal family, but also, you know, also among the Spencer family too."

The royals did not publicly comment on Trump's Stern appearance, though a number of commentators have spoken about his relationship with the royal, with one claiming that he sought a relationship with her after her divorce from King Charles.

"He bombarded Diana at Kensington Palace with massive bouquets of flowers, each worth hundreds of pounds," journalist Selena Scott, who knew Diana well, wrote in a 2015 article for The Sunday Times. "Trump clearly saw Diana as the ultimate trophy wife."

"'What am I going to do?' she asked. 'He gives me the creeps.'"

"'Just throw them in the bin,' I advised. Diana laughed."

Trump subsequently denied any desired romance, telling Piers Morgan in 2016: "I did respect her, but no interest from that standpoint. But I did meet her once, and I thought she was lovely."

But, as Royston noted on The Royal Report, "it's not just Diana," who the former president has made offensive comments about.

In September 2012, Kate Middleton found herself at the center of a privacy battle after a French magazine published photographs of the royal sunbathing topless while on holiday at a private chateau with Prince William which was owned by the son of Queen Elizabeth II's younger sister.

The royals sued the magazine in a lengthy legal battle that did not end until 2017, resulting in a win for Kate and William, whose right to privacy was seen as having been invaded.

"Trump at the time that it happened said that Kate only had herself to blame and shouldn't have been sunbathing topless, even though she was in privacy," Royston said. "She was in a kind of walled-off chateau. The only way the photographer managed to get the pictures was by standing on a hill hundreds of meters away. And using a very, very powerful zoom lens which was able to see over the wall because of the hill."

Trump's comment was made in a Tweet posted on September 17, 2012, which read: "Kate Middleton is great -- but she shouldn't be sunbathing in the nude -- only herself to blame."

Royal biographer Christopher Andersen wrote in his recently released book, The King: The Life of Charles III, that Trump's comment sparked "torrents of profanity" from Charles, William and Prince Harry at Clarence House.

"They were furious about it, obviously, because they were upset on Kate's behalf at the time and now Trump has basically done it again," noted Royston.

Other members of the royal family who have come under more explicit criticism from Trump are Harry and Meghan Markle, whom he has spoken about on a number of occasions.

In 2019 the then-president called Meghan "nasty" and later described Harry as being "whipped" by his wife after the couple both urged Americans to register to vote ahead of the 2020 general election.

In 2022, Trump told Piers Morgan after the Sussexes exit from the monarchy and their bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey: "I hope he's [Harry] happy, he doesn't seem too happy...but no, I'm not a fan [of Meghan's]. I thought she was disrespectful to the queen, which is a no-no, you can't do that. And I thought she was very disrespectful to the whole concept of the royal family and I don't like that. So I hope they're happy."

Despite his outspoken views on some members of the royal family he has spoken highly of others, including Queen Camilla, who he described as "absolutely lovely" and Charles, who he said has "a great way about him."

Perhaps Trump's greatest praise was lavished on Queen Elizabeth II who he met a number of times during his presidency. After her death in September 2022, he wrote a lengthy tribute to the monarch, saying: "Spending time with Her Majesty was one of the most extraordinary honors of my life."

Baring this in mind, Royston concluded: "Some would say that if you liked a group of people that much, perhaps it's better not to trigger them into torrents of profanity all the time, but you know, I guess that's just me."

Newsweek approached the office of Donald Trump via email for comment.

James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek's royal reporter, based in London. You can find him on Twitter at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.

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