Playing host to visiting heads of state is easily one the least relatable things the British royal family is expected to do. Leave it to Prince William, though, to find a way to make the high-stakes, high-pressure task of introducing a visiting U.S. president to the King seem somehow casually relatable.
As People reports, William and his wife, Kate Middleton, were tasked with officially welcoming Donald and Melania Trump when the landed on the grounds of Windsor Castle to begin their official state visit to the U.K. on Wednesday, Sept. 17. After greeting the Trumps, Will and Kate escorted the couple across the grounds to officially meet with King Charles and Queen Camilla—and this is when Will found an opportunity to break the ice and infuse some humor into the typically-formal moment.
While making introductions, Will decided to be playfully informal and undercut the intense formality of the moment, casually saying, “This is my dad,” while introducing Trump to the King.
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King Charles and Queen Camilla greet Donald Trump and Melania Trump upon their arrival in the grounds of Windsor Castle.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
According to People, after the introductions were finished, Donald and Melania Trump joined the royal family in a carriage procession and then had lunch together inside Windsor Castle.
The outlet also reported that Will and Kate had a private meeting with the Trumps after the group lunch and that the meeting was described as “warm and friendly,” even though no details about what the couples discussed during the meeting have been released by the palace at this time.
Kate Middleton and Prince William joined Donald Trump and King Charles for lunch in Windsor Castle on the first day of Trump’s state visit to the United Kingdom.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Later in the evening, at a state banquet held in honor of the Trumps’ visit, King Charles spoke of the “special” relationship between the United States and United Kingdom.
“Anchored by the deep friendship between our people, this relationship which, with good reason, we and our predecessors have long called ‘special’, has made us safer and stronger through the generations,” he said in his speech at the banquet.
“I cannot help but wonder what our forebears from 1776 would make of this friendship today,” he continued, commenting jokingly on the well-documented tension between the first U.S. President, George Washington, and his own “five times great-grandfather,” King George III, during the time of the American Revolution. “Today, however, we celebrate a relationship between our two countries that surely neither Washington nor King George III could possibly have imagined.”
