Donald Trump made ‘unwanted’ grand gesture to Princess Diana following King Charles divorce
Day two of Donald Trump's historic state visit to the UK is well underway, but it turns out his penchant for seemingly ignoring royal traditions and protocols stems right back to the 1980s, with a gesture he made towards the late Princess Diana resurfacing this week.
From his 'wildly inappropriate' comments to Kate Middleton at a state dinner last night to storming ahead in front of King Charles in Windsor gardens and even rocking up late at one point, royal commentators have been scrambling to unpack all the apparent fumbles and missteps the president made during his unprecedented second state visit.
Touching down on this side of the Atlantic for a second time is not the done thing, with previous presidents usually only partaking in one of these state visits during their tenure in the White House - so it's a pretty big deal for Trump.
But it turns out the US president has something of a rocky history with the Royal Family, stemming right back to the 1980s when Trump was rising in the ranks of real estate.
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Between 1981 and 1983, several news outlets began reporting that Princess Diana and Prince Charles were eyeing up a $5million property in Trump's new Trump Tower.
Buckingham Palace was quick to shut down the rumours, saying there was 'no truth' to the claims. However, Trump would later be accused of planting the rumours himself in a shameless PR move to promote his new tower and get eyes on his growing real estate portfolio.
At the time, Trump said he 'refused to confirm or deny the rumour', according to his 1987 book Art of the Deal.
That wasn't the end when it came to Princess Diana, though, as it's claimed that after she split from Charles, Trump sent her loads of flowers.
But the grand gesture didn't exactly go down well, with her friend Selina Scott claiming Diana was left 'creeped' out by the move from the future POTUS.
While he may have ruffled a few feathers in Buckingham Palace, just a few years after Princess Diana's death, Trump was back at it again as he made some pretty eyebrow-raising comments about the late princess.
Quizzed over whether he would have slept with Diana during a 2000 interview with Howard Stern, Trump said: "Without even hesitation. She was truly beautiful and people don't realise how beautiful."
"She was crazy, but these are minor details," he added.
In recent years, however, it looks like Trump has changed his tune around courting Diana, 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."
His comments on other female members of the Royal Family have been even less forgiving.
For instance, Trump branded Meghan Markle as 'terrible' and 'nasty', while she described him as 'divisive' and 'misogynistic' during his 2016 presidential bid.
And in 2012, he blamed Kate Middleton after a pap invaded her privacy by snapping photos of her sunbathing topless on holiday in France.
"Kate Middleton is great – but she shouldn't be sunbathing in the nude – only herself to blame," he said at the time.
Topics: Donald Trump, Princess Diana, Royal Family, UK News, Kate Middleton
Chloe Jackson