Before Donald Trump was president of the United States, he was just guy on Twitter. His tweets didn’t yet do things like unsettle the world economy. (Nor was he yet an Axl Rose whipping boy.) He was just some bozo with too much time on his hands, tweeting out his dumb thoughts on a public sphere. One of those tweets, from 2012, was about Kate Middleton, who had semi-recently become the Duchess of Cambridge. And it was so crude that it may have permanently pissed off members of the Royal Family.
Newsweek obtained a copy of Christopher Andersen’s forthcoming book The King: The Life of Charles III, and like many tomes about modern day world affairs, it’s got some dirt on the 45th president. Only about six months into her marriage to Prince William, a Danish tabloid published pictures of her on a nude beach during her honeymoon. It created a scandal. Lawsuits were filed. And Trump — a man prone to skeevy thoughts he sometimes makes public — weighed in.
“Kate Middleton is great – but she shouldn’t be sunbathing in the nude – only herself to blame,” Trump tweeted. “Who wouldn’t take Kate’s picture and make lots of money if she does the nude sunbathing thing? Come on Kate!”
Well, members of the Royal family were not amused, especially given Trump’s history of lusting after some of them, as per Newsweek:
The former U.S. president sparked “torrents of profanity” from Charles, Prince William and Prince Harry after he said that Kate Middleton had “only herself to blame” for topless photographs taken without her consent and published in French magazine Closer.
Trump also left Charles “disappointed” after referring to him as the “Prince of Whales,” spelled like the sea mammals, rather than the “Prince of Wales,” author Christopher Andersen wrote in The King: The Life of Charles III. Trump suggesting that he “could have nailed” Princess Diana, if he had wanted to, also “didn’t help.”
Andersen himself elaborated upon Trump’s feeling for Princess Diana:
“It didn’t help that Trump had aggressively pursued Princess Diana after her divorce—overtures that were rebuffed—and claimed later on a radio program that he could have ‘nailed her if I wanted to,’ but only if she passed an HIV test.”
Cut to 2017, when Trump was planning on visiting Britain. The Royals had no forgotten about his previous comments. Princes Charles, William, and Harry reportedly “burned up the phone lines” trying to work behind the scenes to discourage his visit. Trump later cancelled the trip, claiming it was because of some Obama-era real estate deal that made him mad.
Charles seems to have never forgiven Trump. When he was being impeached for the first (of two) times, Charles followed it closely, at one point reportedly remarking, “What a ghastly, awful man.” (Perhaps this will all wind up on The Crown one day.)
Still, at least one of his jokes had a fan. Camilla, now the Queen Consort, reportedly told a friend she “couldn’t stop laughing” at Trump’s “Prince of Whales” line — which, you know, props.
(Via Newsweek)