here's a pro tip from Queens for the Palace:
Count your silver.
22
This story about watching Queen Elizabeth's coronation with his mother reminds me of the story he told about his father's birth in Germany.
13
If it is the Queen’s affection Trump desires, then he should have it. What else, but lack of love, drives his insane behavior?!
5
Donald has always envisioned himself a royal. Look what he named his youngest kid for gods sake.
8
This administration is about to give Britain a trade deal that the people who founded America would be saddened by.
Tariffs and contempt to the rest of the world. Honors and trade deals to the country and system the founders of this country found it imperative to break away from.
“Commerce with all. Alliances with none”, was their motto.
Just the opposite of the current American government.
3
I’m sure Donald Trump was always a source of great pride to his “Scotch” mum.
2
A "love affair" implies a two-way relationship.
There is no reciprocity. There is only one man's compulsions and blubbering self-projections.
13
If ole mum spent ore time with her little Donny instead of dreaming of the British King, just maybe he would have turned out half human, half decent, at least half a man. Instead America gets the Trump.
10
Everybody who despise Trump for what he is, are so ready to accept those who direct the same nasty rude behaviour towards Trump. People think that it is ok for Khan, Corbyn, Meghan Markle etc. to say nasty things about Trump but feel very angry when Trump replies back. When did we become a nation of hypocrites?
3
@Chickitten
Even assuming arguendo the accuracy of your criticism, could it be because they criticize his ideas and policies, while Trump resorts to playground-level insults (short/loser/nasty/creepy, etc.)?
20
Look closely at this picture.
The Queen is talking and Trump is not bothering to look at her and he is keeping his distance. Meanwhile trailing far behind is the First Lady.
Now let's compare the meeting of the Obamas and the Queen:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eU_0hyjXRaM
Says it all...sadly.
8
The US - UK relationship is very strong and enduring.
It has to be, to weather the current visit to that country by our bombastic, boorish, narcissistic village idiot, Donald Trump.
Stiff upper lip. 2020 will be here shortly.
14
It's pretty common for the wealthy and affluent to covet royalty instead of the common citizenry who toil in factories, cramped cubicles and on the streets. To Trump and his ilk, elitism is the next best thing to having absolute power of life and death over all others, authority the royals have practiced for thousands of years.
4
This article says more about the New York Times' disdain for tradition (and privilege) than President's Trump's admiration for British royalty.
3
Whenever I see pictures of Trump's parents, I think, "Do you two have a lot to answer for!" This article just confirms that. Blame the parents, for raising an unapologetic monster in little Donny? You bet I do.
11
Hmm, maybe there is a 2016 Trump voter who will read the entirety of this salacious conversation and who will then decide to dump him in 2020. I just don't think anyone will subject themselves to this. Warning: No one under 40 should attempt this. It's not worth it.
Interview: Donald Trump on The Howard Stern Show - November 4, 1997
https://factba.se/transcript/donald-trump-interview-howard-stern-show-november-4-1997
Every December 25 - Christmas - the Palace broadcasts a pre-recorded address by the Queen. Elizabeth writes the speeches herself, so they say. The ones I have listened to have been remarkable.
The Queen has an amazing grasp of events around the world and political movements. She normally never utters a political word and certainly never criticizes or praises a political candidate or official The Family stays out of politics to maintain its power and state funding. Yet the speech demonstrates how savvy she is about her own family and the world in general.
If you listen carefully, you learn a great deal about how the Queen thinks about the world by listening to her Christms speeches. She has one of the most remarkable grasps of world history for the past 100 years. She understands her and England's role in the world.
The Queen understands the need for separation of royal practices from ordinary life - she does not want to be any commoner's good friend. Trump really admires this. He wants to be the first American King, followed by his Crown Princess Ivanka. That's why Ivanka and Jared are along for the trip, but not Don, Jr. Ivanka and Jared are understudies! Can you imagine a king called "Junior?"
Only in Haiti. Vanity Fair will write about the clothes. Meghan must be thanking posterity that she doesn't have to shake hands with the Big Cheeto thanks to Little Archie!
8
For example, George III, Edward VIII, etc. Not jr, just a number indicating the number of kings who have used the name.
1
this statement struck a chord with me:
"Her forbears had been impoverished and evicted from their farms in a land grab by English-backed Scottish lords, known as the Highland Clearances..." my grandparents came to the US from Scotland not long after the first world war. my grandfather, having suffered in the trenches, came back to scotland with no love for the windsor family and the british government (if he ever had any). my grandmother, for reasons unknown (maybe just to irritate my grandfather) always professed love for "my queen" and loved all the pomp and circumstance that went with the queen and queen mother. i have to say that while i wish the windsor family no harm... i have no love for them either. didn't we fight a war in 1776 to get them *out* of our lives (granted they were hanovers then). the fact that our current president is both so obsequious and rude at the same time is a considerable source of embarrassment -- giving a foreign power more respect than is necessary but not the proper respect due to a sovereign state. but then, he does love those unquestioned dictators, so this is his style. what an embarrassment.
8
A Trump conversation on royalty would concern the difference between king and queen sized beds.
6
Doesn't the phrase "love affair" mean something is mutual? How about Trump's Obsession with the Royal Family? Seems way more accurate.
9
Just wondering the total taxpayer tab for these ridiculous pointless trips is while the country waits for the president and Republicans to actually do something about, well, anything.
For Trump, this is probably his greatest accomplishment and proudest moment. "I'm the only president to meet with the Emperor of Japan and the Queen of England in the same week!"
Maybe next week he and the family can go to Disneyland and meet Mickey Mouse? No president has ever met all three, right?
16
Mr. Trump has done anything and everything during the past decades of his life to ensure that he has entered in a feud with everyone on the planet, except Russia and Putin.
4
I love that photo of the Queen, keeping up with the president, in those stylist yet sensible shoes.
At the age of 92 and the longest-reigning British monarch, she attends close to 400 engagements a year, many outside of England, and more than William, Kate and Henry combined.
If ever there was a role model for duty, honor, work ethic, and responsibility, it is this Queen of England. This country's president could learn a thing or three from this grand lady. Decent and respectful manners could come close to the top of that list.
32
If the royal family means so much to Trump
Why does he treat them disrespectfully and insult them? Why does he give them unsolicited advice on how to manage their politics and why does he name call the mayor and the Duchess of Sussex. Beastly behavior. Trump is a sickening embarrassment to our government: crude and disgusting.
146
@Grandma The Duchess of Sussex insulted the president. Markle, albeit accepted by them, lacks the breeding and manners required of British Royalty. She's just an opportunist coming up from the underclass. As for the mayor of London, he's another fool who, since he can't run his city, deflects his incompetency by insulting the president.
8
Markle made the statement about Trump during the campaign, before she started dating Prince Harry, when asked by a talk show host what she thought of Trump’s politics. She was an educated, successful woman known for supporting womens causes. "I am proud to be a woman and a feminist," Markle said in a 2015 speech in her role as a United Nations Women advocate for political participation and leadership.
The reference to underclass reveals an underlying racism which is also reflected you assessment of Mayor Khan.
55
@MCH number one, at the time she was nobody's dutchess but a plain old american citizen entitled to her opinion; number two, this thin skinned embarrassment of a president cannot stand a woman who has an opinion -- better hope the queen doesn't make any remarks he doesn't like; number three, DJT's cheerleaders, the Murdoch empire, brought the subject up in the first place. and number 4, the mayor of london was elected by the people of london, who seem to like or dislike him just fine without any opinions from Trump or the US.
54
He starts his trip off by insulting the mayor of London tweeting that he is a "stone cold loser". He's such an embarrassing representation of the US, it's mortifying. One can only imagine what the royal family says amongst themselves.
I hope the Trump baby balloon is flying high again.
125
@TB And this as well as the balloon should do the trick.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/may/15/dumping-donald-trump-robot-being-sent-to-uk
4
And once again, I think to myself that if a Democrat was behaving like this, the GOP would have already stormed the White House and impeached ten times over.
17
God save the Queen, and God bless the USA. Her Highness understands powerful men with feet of clay, because she has a lifetime of dealing with them. Our great alliance and shared heritage will continue to better the world. The sun never sets on our empires.
5
Trump would need to have the intelligence and a basic understanding of what the Queen was saying in order to be influenced by what she was saying. Same with Prince Charles. Trump has the attention span of a Highland Midge (another bloodsucker with Scottish origins - or should I say "oranges"). I think Trump's Mum should have watched less television and spent more time teaching her son to be more compassionate, honest, and respect women. What he said about Princess Diana was disgusting. So he told Howard Stern he wouldn't date her unless she would submit to a medical exam and was free of STD's? I'm pretty sure if Diana had ever agreed to something like that she would tell Trump her doctor found bones spurs, exempting her from a fate worse than death.
22
One difference between the families, Princes William and Harry both served in the military, as did the Queen herself as a young Army mechanic in WWII.
The Trumps, not so much.
60
@J: Classless, clueless and gutless!
12
Before his arrival in London, President Trump declared his support for Brexiters Farage and Johnson, a clear interference in Britain's internal politics. Right before he landed, he wrote a sensational tweet about London mayor Sadiq Khan in which he also criticized NYC mayor De Blasio. From what we have seen, that's typical of Trump and is totally anticipated. What surprises me the most is the almost zero condemnation from any of the British politicians on this. That shows how weak Great Britain has become, especially before Trump. Instead of making their stance clear, they rollout a royal red carpet before Trump. In a way the British Government has insulted their own royalty by making them part of President Trump's welcome party.
9
How about Obama who pushed his globalist view on the Brits?
2
At the same time Trump's father should have a special affinity to royalty also. It would be to the Swedish king as at that time he claimed to be of Swedish origin.
5
Someone who enjoys fabulous wealth and adulation despite having never done anything of value. That basically describes Trump's innermost desires. Of course he loves royalty.
5
Trump is obsessed with the Queen because she is everything he is not. Despite her privileged and cloistered upbringing, she is a sensible woman who tool her job and all that goes with it seriously. Her children may have disappointed her in the past with their reckless behavior ( Charles and Andrew), but her grandsons from the late princess of Wales have become wonderful ambassadors for the country. As for Trumps Mother’s adoration of the royal family, she instilled in him all the wrong reasons to admire them. Some people look at them and only see the gilt of their status, not the tireless work many, not all, have done over the years. Trump loves the pomp and surroundings, but he has no taste, his is garish and a crude attempt. His mother’s family were basically peasants, and peasants love the flutter of royalty, but cannot understand the history behind it. I know, I am Scottish, my father worked up in the western isles of Scotland before and after the war, he was well aware of the strangeness of those who lived on “isolated islands.”Mr. Trumps’ mother seems to have passed that onto her son. In Scotland we call it being “daft in the head”.
17
At the same time Trump's father should have a special affinity to royalty also. It would be to the Swedish king as at that time he claimed to be of Swedish origin.
4
Like so many other things about the current presidency that I futiley hoped would change, would it just be too much that President Unmade Bed would actually wear a suit that fits, and also button the jacket like any grown-up? Oops- there's the clue- any grown-up.
10
The British are used to cover with pomp an ceremony all of the Heads of State that pay them a visit, from the Kings of Nepal and Afghanistan to the Presidents of Zambia and Nigeria to the Presidents of Mexico Peña Nieto and of Argentina, Carlos Mennen, two of the most corrupt leaders that Latin America has seen. So there is nothing new under the London grey skies.
5
Well, the feelings are clearly not mutual. Trump being told he would not be allowed to stay with the Queen in Buckingham Palace was an obvious and, IMO, well deserved snub. No doubt Donald's alert aides drew the curtains in Air Force One to safeguard against Donald seeing the protesters massed in the streets below.
6
I honestly thought this might be a puff piece, that maybe the Times wanted to give Trump a little break over a state visit. I'm happy to see that's its not. When Ms. Barry noted that Trump had once made crude remarks about Lady Diana, I knew I was going to like this article. Thanks to Ellen Barry.
6
Trump leaves a nation drowning in flood waters as well as grief over the latest and largest work place massacre without so much as a look back. Who is Trump to criticize Sadiq Khan for the manner in which he is administering London?
24
The man who would be king? Was that when Trump's ambition started, to be our King of the United States of America, at age of 6, " enthralled" by watching his immigrant mom, who had once been a housemaid, watch the 'gilded spectacle' of the crown being placed on Elizabeth's head?
Morton--- “I would argue that Trump is more royal than the queen, he behaves more like a potentate,” he said, adding that Mr. Trump had an “ostentatious type of living..."
(and talking and behaving)
The American colonies overthrew rule by King George the 1st and his court. Now we've got to rid ourselves of KIng Donald the 1st and his Mafia oligarchs, undermining 21st C America.
6
@Meredith It was King George III.
3
I really believe a lot of Donald Trump's anger comes from never being accepted by the elites in New York. He knows he has no class . . . and his golden doorknobs, etc. are looked on by most as just plain tacky. It's also pitiful that Ivanka seems to think they are a new version of the Kennedy's. No, Ivanka, you will never be a Jackie or a Caroline...please don't try.
37
A 6 year old American boy who eagerly watched the coronation of Queen Elizabeth? I wonder how many other ones did the same. No boys I knew (I'm Trump's age) or men I know now. Was it the dreams of imperial power or was it the gaudy campness of it all?
6
@Ceilidth
He had no friends, Ceildth.
3
The photos of Ivanka & Jared on the balcony at Buckingham Palace were very telling - delusions of being “royalty”.
9
Along with the gilded spectacle, too bad he didn’t learn the manners and decorum of those he emulated. He will never be as rich, and he has zero class.
4
Do we even know for sure that his dad said the royals were con artists, or is that a fake quote Trump drummed up, to portray them as con artists to the current American public? Seriously, with the amount of lies he tells, he is not beneath doing that.
5
Don't kid yourself: Trump's love affair is with himself and himself only.
5
Doesn't a "love affair" imply mutuality?
4
This man with no class will be in the company of one of the most dignified persons in the world. And he won't even recognize it. All he'll see is himself basking in a celebrated personage.
4
I wish Trump had not been given an invitation to visit the Queen, and England.
The Brits know who he is, what he is, and this feels utterly wrong.
Trump insults their people, their leaders, he is a dangerous, misogynistic, pathologically lying narcissist who loves the dictators of the world who kill their own people.
Why did the Brits invite him? It's a disgrace, really, it's catering to a madman.
I know there are trade issues, here, I get it. And maybe the Brits are concerned they'll go off a cliff financially with Brexit and they need the trade deals. If Trump wins again, and he hates the Brits, then that's an issue.
I still have a problem with it. You never cater to a creep.
9
"Prince Charles, for example, may try to influence Mr. Trump on the issue of climate change, Mr. Morton said, adding that the prince has the power to extend invitations to the next coronation."
Perhaps the prince will be successful in putting a dent in that man's dense mindset and actually convince him of the crucial issue of climate change. If he will actually listen and possibly be swayed about the real dangers and issues of climate change over the denials of his many climate "experts and scientists", then that issue alone was worth this trip.
Stranger things have happened. I am keeping the home firers burning . . . in hopes of a positive result.
2
The British royal family is everything that Mr. Trump is not. They hold their tongues and say nothing mean spirited or rude about anyone that is in the form of a public statement. They do what is expected of them and whether the U.S. public sees their worth, I believe it is more apparent when comparing the Trumps to the House of Windsor. It was mean spirited of Mrs May to inflict this state visit on the queen.
85
@Christopher
In the UK, as in many European countries (kingdoms as well as republics), the Head of State and Leader of the Executive are distinct roles. The Head of State is dignified and apolitical, the Leader does politics.
The USA unifies these roles in a single person, which is disastrous when this is such a one as Trump.
18
I suppose I'm one of those few Americans who despise royalty in all its forms and devices. A royal wedding, funeral, or birthday leaves me cold; each quite obviously is a circus act (without the bread).
Seriously, before the Kardashians, before Paris Hilton - and, yes, before Trump - the UK royals had carved out for themselves a place in the social hierarchy entirely without merit; famous for being famous, skilled at nothing but self-promotion and fatuous gilded pomp, these talentless, undeserving wretches are creatures without depth or understanding. They are the very definition of noxious "celebrity".
This is why Trump feel right at home.
31
It all makes so much sense now.
Trump's obsession with ostentatious, gold plated chaserai comes from a childhood desire to emulate royalty in an effort to please his mother.
Trump's father chiming in about the royals all being con artists was not a little bit ironic, given the Trump's proclivities.
I recall Trump saying a few years ago " I don't want to be King of the World".
At the time, I took that as yes, he definitely wants to be King of the World and this piece basically supports that thought.
Everything he does as president, the unilateral proclamations and incessant petulance when he doesn't get his way all point to his feelings of royal entitlement.
80
Trump on wanting to date Princess Diana: "I always have a shot."
He flatters himself.
Whatever he can pay for, that's all.
And there are many people who can't be bought.
I'll bet there have been many women he pursued who were grossed out by his pushiness and terrible manners.
17
With a little luck Trumps final thought will not be 'I was that person, standing with the Queen', but rather 'I was that person
being thrown into prison in Queens!"
18
@Barry Moyer: funny, but I want him sent to Dannemora, aka "Little Siberia"...
It's been clear since day one that Trump is unfit to be president
of what was a great country. In view of existential threats
nationally and worldwide, why is the Times putting this junk
near the top of the page? So much useless syrupy wordage!
6
Obviously, Trump's mother was not a Scottish nationalist!
2
I’ve yet to meet and English person who thinks trump (herein referred to as “it”) has even a basic level of intelligence. I suspect Prince Charles took a shower after meeting with “it”. “Its” enthralled with royalty because he dreams of being king. “It” might not not even know we fought the English in our war for independence, and for sure it doesn’t know when the war of 1812 was fought.
6
The matte around his father's picture is a moat. He was, in many ways, untouchable, even to Donald.
4
Nauseating, and who can believe a word Trump babbles about his mother or any other topic. His extemporaneous comments are nothing short of bizarre most times What a phenomenal waste of the US taxpayer money to send him and his entourage to a country he insults and who have little regard for him
13
Wise words from my illustrious, great grandmother have guided me in business and personal relationships.
"You can always see the caliber of a person by the way they treat their staff." "When one shows no respect for others they have very little of their own."
7
I'm pretty sure his love affair with England dates back to King George III and then skipped past 260 years.
17
You watch, Trump is going to want his own horse drawn carriage when he get back! It will be for the parade he still want to throw in DC.
Trump is really out of place as President, he would be much happier as El Supremo of some 3rd world country where he could demand all the pomp and groveling from his underlings. I'll bet he is jealous of the Sultan of Brunei's gold plated Caddy. It is the fawning that he covets, the work of governing he doesn't understand or like.
22
Love affair? They despise this man. He's a corrupt, simple-minded, vulgar boor who thinks himself above rule of law. His supporters treat him like he's a King anointed by God.
At this point I think the royals are just laughing at him, at how he believes his outbursts, tantrums, attacks and insults are acceptable and even desirable behavior from a world leader.
20
Apropos of nothing, but who is that woman to the left of Fred Trump, throwing The Donald some shade as he waves to a sycophant in the balcony? His sister (and former NJ judge) Mary?
5
Maybe Trump needs to reflect on the fates of profligate royalty throughout history,present Queen excepted. He is a disgrace and a shame to our REPUBLIC.
8
Gee, Trump got to meet the Queen. Better than blowing the horn on the semi-truck?
Only the shadow knows.
Wonder if the Queen figured out that the queen of Queens was in the closet?
2
I hope Queen Elizabeth speaks to the world through a brooch again.
5
I do wish the NYT would stop using weasel words. Diana did not die in a 'car accident'. She died in a car crash.
An accident as opposed to an incident is not forseeable, is not preventable. The car crash in which Diana died was wholly preventable. Furthermore, Diana's death was wholly preventable — she would not have died in the car crash had she been wearing her seat belt as she was required to do by French law.
There would have been no car crash if the chauffeur had not been intoxicated, had observed the speed limit, and had driven with greater care, attention and skill.
Diana's untimely death was no accident. No, it was not a conspiracy organised by the Establishment. It was the result of two illicit lovers both behaving like feckless fools, with an even greater feckless fool at the wheel.
2
Sorry to be coarse...but I liken the picture of Trump with Queen Elizabeth to a viscerally disgusting porn shot.
5
Ahhh-Trump in his element-Pomp and Circumstance-he excels no doubt--if only he could stay........
7
Erm, no thanks. We don't want him!
7
@TWShe Said
"-- if only he could stay..." and a few others with him: McConnell, Biden, Pence, Barr... That would be kind of the British to welcome them all.
1
@Fran
Biden?
1
I am not a trump fan. In fact that’s an understatement so I hate that this comment sounds like I’m defending him. But to write, “Duchess of Sussex, also known as Meghan Markle, in an answer to an interviewer’s question, as “nasty” for speaking critically of him in 2016.” Is taken out of context. He was kinda set up for that.
He does enough stupid and nasty things. We don’t need to stretch the truth and give the opposition fuel to attach the press.
6
@Jane He did say it. It's on video. He was responding to something she said, and it is not taken out of context. He may regret saying it, but he did it.
22
The opposition doesn't need fuel to attack the press. And I don't need to make excuses for this nasty man.
6
I’ve never cared much for President Trump or Prince Charles for that matter. However, I can’t bring myself to attack and revile either without feeling some degree of shame. Maybe there is a whiff of credibility to rumors of Trump Derangement Syndrome in not-so-polite circles of our society as demonstrated by these comments.
2
So you feel that degrees of how much you hate someone is important, your level is the standard to which others should be measured...and your level is the proper amount, where others who are more enthusiastic about their dislike are deranged. Ok. Kind of like when you are doing 75 in a 60 mile an hour zone and someone passes you at 80. They are maniacs, whereas the person doing 58 are idiots. It's all about you.
6
@Charlie - Donald Trump is not welcome in polite circles. Did you read his crude and vulgar tweets about London's Mayor? We should all feel disgust and shame that we have a "president" speaking this way about anyone. He's dragging the entire country down to his gutter level.
7
Didn’t Trumps family talk about starting an American dynasty awhile back. Because they have wealth they believe they are natural leaders and people should kowtow to them as royalty.
I have no doubt they would gladly destroy our society and attempt to rule all of us.
17
His mother’s legacy: a love of money, splendor, television, and “con-artists.”
42
Interesting to note:
Even the way the photographs of his parents are framed diminishes his mother. If he truly learned his love of grandeur from his mother, why give her such a small and subtle frame? Clearly, ALL women are less important to him.
17
@JTH
I don't know that the picture of the father in a larger frame is such a positive. It only enhances the "B" movie, Central Casting gangster/con man look the father reeks of complete with sinister mustache.
1
@JTH
I imagine he vacillates between idealization and devaluation in a split second (like any run of the mill narcistically disordered person). His mother would not be immune, at least while she was living.
3
The fact the Queen consented to this charade is deeply disturbing. The latest is Trump wanted to have a dynastical meeting between his kids and the Royals. By all accounts, not going to happen. One hopes none of our tax dollars are paying one dime of those kids expenses including security.
152
Theresa May, the outgoing prime minister, planned this for months.
Even before he got on the plane, trump insulted Meghan Markle and the Lord Mayor. Trump seems determined to scuttle our special relationship with the UK.
44
@Bill "The fact the Queen consented to this charade is deeply disturbing."
The Queen doesn't "consent" to such things. It's her duty as Monarch to welcome the heads of state that her elected government decide get to visit.
95
@Bill
Don't blame the queen for being civil; it's too bad that he acquired the taste for opulence and pageantry, but missed her personal discipline.
79
His obsession with Royalty explains a lot about him. He is a would be King and of course would expect loyalty above all else. Democracy is anathema to him.
183
@Ed100
But democracy allows Trump to write all those nasty tweets.
19
Trumpy has his father's love for the ultimate con and his mother's fascination for the garish.
37
She's welcomed guys like Trump before ... Mugabe, Assad, Ceausescu, to name a few.
Trump knows the Queen is close to Obama and will trying to win her over. In a few days some delicious detail will leak out and the world will be able to know the Queen's opinion of him too.
22
As with anything that comes out of Trumps mouth, it’s likely a fabrication or a lie. It wasn’t that long ago that Trump said his father was born in Germany.
23
So besides the tweet bashing the London mayor, what blatant gaffe or violation of protocol by Trump will we have the misfortune to cringe about today?
17
@JM
Haven't checked, but I'm sure its already occurred. It's impossible for this simpleton to take a breath without saying something stupid and offensive.
"They're all a bunch of con artists." The British expression, "The teapot calling the kettle black", immediately comes to mind. To paraphrase Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, isn't three generations of totally immoral Trumps enough?
48
This is complete and utter nonsense.
The only person or thing he loves is himself.
24
@Futbolistaviva
Trump would much rather be a King than President.
20
@JM Yes, he would have made an excellent Russian Tzar!!!!
1
This all makes me sick. The entire royalty thing is anti-what we in America cherish most...freedom of choice, democracy, earning your place in the world. Our founders completely rejected royalty and power based on ancestral land ownership. To be famous and rich because of your bloodline makes me ill. Trump loves this garbage. He would love to be King with little Princess Ivanka etc. The whole spectacle plays into his tiny hands. How about a series of articles on why our founders rejected the crown, etc. to accompany all of the fawning. Or maybe the editors think they would be royalty too?
23
@Rainy Night
The English colonists who dominated the colonies of North America rejected the right of the Crown to stop North American colonists from expanding ever westwards, pillaging, raping and seizing Native American lands, breaking treaties, and generally behaving like rapacious land thieves.
Land greed was the primary reason for North American colonists revolting against the restrictive rules imposed by Westminster. But excuses had to be found. Greed had to be dressed up in fine words. Thus the myth of principled anti-monarchism was born.
Democracy was never the intent or the goal of the revolutionary leaders, merely replacing one tyranny with another more to their own liking. A tyranny in which Native Americans and African slaves would continue to be excluded from any say in their future.
All the rest is propaganda perpetuated in US published-for -Texas high school history books.
11
@Colenso
Good points. I have always believed that the American Revolution was motivated by a desire to get out from under the Royal Proclamation of 1763 wherein the Crown asserted the rights of the original inhabitants to be seen as nations when negotiating treaties with the colonisers
1
There we go again, sending out our trash for the world to see. 'Great Britain' (and post-Brexit, 'little England') can do little when a giant forces itself on it. There should be a MeToo version of international politicking.
12
Oh, come on, NYT. Why build a supposed greater truth out of public relations. Who knows what 6 year-old Trump "understood" when his mother watched the coronation, even if he was at her side, as related by Tony Schwartz, who actually wrote "The Art of the Deal". It was not broadcast simultaneously in the US, but only days later, when the BBC film arrived, so your story is inaccurate. In any case,I don't believe for a moment that this "explains" anything about Trump's behavior. And why are you trying to explain it, in any case?
20
I just hope that they have some translators on hand when trump and the Queen are forced to speak with one another. ‘The rain in Spain, falls mainly on the plain . . . .”
8
and the odd thing is that trump hasn't aged at all.
he still behaves like a six year old.
as for spectacle....less when it's in black and white.
11
We are deeply sorry, Your Majesty.
Seriously.
122
i guess contrary to the love affair he has with the north korean dictator the one with the royal family is rather one-sided... meghan and harry are fortunate to be on maternity leave... the rest of the royals who have no excuse must put up with that “primal ancestor in a suit, stumping on everything” (matt potter in the wapo) and with his entire clan... i expect them to get it over with humour, wit & a fine note if irony...
25
It's a shame he didn't inherit his Mother's attention span instead of his Father's own penchant for con artistry...
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@Rick The father wasn’t a bad guy, as the media has been portraying him! I lived in his Beach Haven development in the 1980’s. He provided decent living for lower middle class people, and there were minorities in my building! The old timers did tell me that when Fred brought Donald around in the early years, the son acted like a spoiled brat, and belittled tenants! So, we elected a clown, and got an embarrassing circus. But, don’t blame the father!
Britain had their George the forth so I guess we have Trump. God help us.
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@Precarious Illusion
Aye, well we survived and prospered - no reason why you shouldn't get over this wee blip as well.
Good luck to you all.
15
I am totally surprised...he shows such a lack of respect...I can't imagine he has any "love affair" with the British Royal Family...
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@martha34 the only “love affair” he has is with himself.
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@martha34
Trump has no respect for the royals, he is only seething with jealousy.
6
“I also remember my father that day, pacing around impatiently, ‘For Christ’s sake, Mary,’ he said, ‘enough is enough, turn it off. They’re all a bunch of con artists,’ ” Mr. Trump recalled, years later. “My mother didn’t even look up. They were total opposites in that sense.”
The 'con artists' part of this has me realizing that 45's propensity to project his worst qualities onto others is clearly inherited.
40
Good call! This one anecdote is so illustrative of the roots of both his obsession with spectacle and distain for others.
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@fastiller
Last time we checked, Trump's slum apartment buildings weren't made with known flammable material and didn't burn down and cause the deaths of 72 people. That's a lot more than the Windsor-Bountbattens can say.
@Viv
I'm afraid you've drawn a false analogy.
The USA, for some reason I don't understand, combines head of state with head of government so the symbolic embodiment of the state is also personally responsible for the politically swayed running of the country.
In the UK, the head of state is simply that and not directly responsible for governmental decisions.
The Grenfell Tower disaster was unimaginably dreadful but was due to badly made decisions by temporary, elected representatives but national and local.
13
I find it interesting that Trump's father thought that the royals where all a bunch of con artists, which must be why he raised his son that way, then he could pretend to be a royal too.
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"they're all con artists".
And Donald Trump has spent the entirety of his life in that singular quest.
27
The closest Trump would get to the civility and standards of the royal family would be to empty their waste bins.
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@MJG
Emptying waste bins is almost surely not in his skill set.
1
I’d hardly describe Donald’s relationship with the royal family a “love affair”. In love affairs, the love is mutual.
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@Andrea P.
Wait, Trump said he fell in love with Kim Jong Un.
7
I watched the same televised program. Boston’s School Board gave us the afternoon off to go home and use the event as an educational tool. We were all excited; I mean, how often do American school children get to see a real queen?
We were required, the next day, to give brief reports on what we saw. I distinctly recall a handsome Duke of Windsor taking the hand of the young, radiant queen.
I have to admit to a major problem with this story’s headline. Donald Trump has never had a “love affair” with anyone or anything but himself. The coronation of Queen Elizabeth was a major, serious newsworthy international event. I seriously doubt that this six-year old took in its significance or pageantry. He was probably asleep before the BBC announcers got under way.
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@Red Sox, ‘04, ‘07, ‘13, ‘18, the whole point of this article was nothing more than to justify running that smug goofy picture of Trump sitting next to his mother. His mom's adoration for the Queen is totally irrelevant.
@Red Sox, ‘04, ‘07, ‘13, ‘18
The Duke of Windsor was not at the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth. Churchill told him not to come.
1
This is very unsatisfying story. I've been to the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides on a number of occasions, and I seriously doubt that DJT's mother was a devoted royalist. Sure, she might have watched Elizabeth's coronation with great attention, but who didn't in the early days of television?
I would love to see a serious study done on the influence of DJT's mother on DJT's childhood upbringing. It would include her beliefs about discipline, her approach to secular learning, her views of women's role in relationship to men, and her beliefs about wealth and poverty as shaped by the rigorous teachings of the Church of Scotland. It would consider the transgenerational impact of growing up in a culture that ate seabird eggs, hunted gannets, and spoke English as a second language - hardly the customs of what was mainstream Britain, even in the 1910's and 20's.
20
As Cadet Bone Spurs views the military parade will he hearken back to his father fixing it so that he would never have to have served in his own country's military?
When his fondest memory of the Coronation is his father berating his mother it's clear that the apple didn't fall far from the tree.
85
Trump did not "tell this story" in his "autobiography," which was completely written by a ghostwriter. All this piece does is humanize Trump in a misleading way. The quasi-psychological framing device of the article just serves to undercut the serious message of how Trump is damaging our relationship with Britain and the rest of Europe.
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@Emily ~
Could not agree with you more. When I read "his story" my first thought was why should I believe it since he lies all the time.
4
I too have similar memories of watching the coronation. Happily it did not affect me the same way it did little Donnie.
42
If I have any faith in the royal family it comes from the expectation that Prince Harry will take Trump to task for his behavior and personal attacks on his wife. Absent that, my opinion of the monarchy will remain quite low.
29
Diogenes wrote that “wise kings generally have wise counselors; and he must be a wise man himself who is capable of distinguishing one.”
So, clearly, Trump fails the royal test.
103
You can't buy class.
229
I suppose you can buy crass.
32
@Joan1009
True, Joan. But you can buy a Senate leader, an attorney general, un-Christian-like Evangelicals, inept and corrupt cabinet members, the National Enquirer, and an entire television network (save Shep and Chris Wallace), if you use racism, greed, and paranoia as currency.
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@Joan1009
...nor taste.
3
Of course, the reference to the 6-year old boy is the main point. He never grew up.
161
“If he is accorded love by the queen, he will be smiling like a Cheshire Cat,” he said. “He will be purring away.”
And the Founding Fathers would be turning in their graves.
75
You can tell all Trump is thinking is. I gotta get me a palace like the Queen has.
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@JimmySerious
with a fence around it
3
"“I also remember my father that day, pacing around impatiently, ‘For Christ’s sake, Mary,’ he said, ‘enough is enough, turn it off. They’re all a bunch of con artists,’ ”"
Man, this anecdote from Trump's childhood explains a lot. I'd known that Fred Trump was a piece of work, but to have to grow up with Fred's negativity and spite surely contributed to the president's churlish personality.
As for Donald Trump's desire to be on "equal footing" with the Royal Family, isn't this over the top? He will never be, any more than I would, clearly, because he lacks class, discretion, and restraint.
He wants the pomp and the ceremony but he refuses to do the very things that might make him a hit: end his freelance criticizing, stop second guessing, and for God's sake, don't walk ahead of the Queen.
140
@ChristineMcM Mr. Trump’s status far exceeds that of the royal family. The British royals are the earliest reality show cast. If you don’t believe me, watch the show “The Crown”.
The difference between the British royals and homegrown reality stars like Mr. Trump and the Kardashians is that the latter achieved their status themselves instead of inheriting it. And Mr. Trump further trumps the royals handily by having been elected to the presidency.
Every senior politician in any country in the world realizes that the British royals are inconsequential. They serve no purpose at all and realize it keenly. They need Mr. Trump far more than he needs them.
6
@Shiv
"Every senior politician in any country in the world realizes that the British royals are inconsequential"
You understand very little about how the world works. Let's leave it at that...
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@Shiv
Trump achieved his staus by inheriting a huge $400 million from his father, after being bailed out by his father many times; by ripping off most of the people , contractors and sub-contractors who worked for him; by conning everyone he could con; by losing more money than any American businessman; by very possibly laundering vast amounts of Russian money; and was elected to the Presidency courtesy of Russia interference, Russian propoganda and Russian financing.
Reality TV stars may have status in some peoples’ eyes but are a lightweight joke to others.
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