In June 2019, King Charles III and Queen Camilla, who were then Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall, welcomed U.S. President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania to Buckingham Palace. More than six years later, Trump is back in the White House, and this time Prince William and Kate Middleton greeted the Trumps when they arrived near Windsor Castle.
This shows how much has changed for the royal family. In 2019, Meghan Markle was on maternity leave and Prince Harry stayed away after Trump called Meghan “nasty.” Now Harry and Meghan are no longer working royals and have a strained relationship with the family. Harry spent four days in the U.K. recently, but William refused to meet him. At the same time, Trump’s state visit was planned for months and received full royal attention.
As Prince of Wales, William follows tradition by greeting visiting U.S. presidents. Past visits sometimes broke this pattern, like when Barack Obama’s last trip in 2016 began with Prince Philip instead. This time it fit the plan for William to welcome Trump. Over the past months, William has quietly built a connection with Trump, starting with a 40 minute meeting in February that Trump praised.
Although William supports environmental causes and has spoken up for civilians in Gaza, a palace source told the Telegraph that he sees political neutrality as an important duty and helps when the government asks.
Harry used his visit to reconnect with his home country. He attended the WellChild Awards, stayed longer for events in London and Nottingham, and personally donated 1.5 million dollars to the charity Children in Need. He also met privately with King Charles for 45 minutes, their first meeting since Charles announced his cancer diagnosis in early 2024. The private nature of the talk shows Harry wants to rebuild a relationship with his father even without a security deal for his family.
For William and Kate, the focus was on their royal duty. Hosting Trump is part of William’s job as future king. Making peace with Harry is not. Even if meeting Trump could be criticized later, William chose to fully support the state visit to represent the crown and keep strong ties with the United States.
