King Charles III and Queen Camilla are on a four-day trip through the United States
King Charles III was seen happily shaking hands with Zohran Mamdani, despite the New York City Mayor having previously stated that he would urge the royal to return the Koh-i-noor diamond to India if they spoke.
Mamdani spoke at a press conference hours before the 9/11 ceremony saying: “If I were to speak to the King separately from that, I’d probably encourage him to return the Kohinoor diamond.”
The diamond, originating in the Kollur mine in present-day Andhra Pradesh, India, is set into a royal crown on display in the Tower of London. Seized by the East India Company after its victory in the Second Anglo-Sikh War of 1849, the gem was given to Queen Victoria and has remained part of the Crown Jewels ever since.
But countries including India, Pakistan, Iran, and Afghanistan have all claimed ownership, The Mirror reports. The Koh-i-noor diamond wasn’t used during King Charles III’s coronation, allowing Buckingham Palace to sidestep the controversy surrounding a gem acquired during the age of Empire.
King Charles III and Queen Camilla took part in the wreath-laying ceremony at the National 9/11 Memorial, where they met with first responders and the families of victims of the September 11 attacks. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and other dignitaries also attended the ceremony, which comes ahead of the 25th anniversary of the attacks.
Mamdani and the King were captured shaking hands at the event sharing a friendly conversation. The royal couple’s swing through the city comes midway through a four-day trip marking 250 years of American independence.
It will be the first trip to New York by a reigning British monarch since Queen Elizabeth II visited in 2010. The four-day trip is Charles’ first state visit to the U.S. since he became king.
His mother, Queen Elizabeth II, made four state visits to the U.S. Monday, the king and queen joined President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump for tea at the White House.
On Tuesday, Charles and Trump had a closed-door meeting in the Oval Office. The king then delivered a rare speech before Congress, the first by a British monarch since his late mother in 1991, followed by a formal state dinner at the White House.
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