Trump pestered late Queen for gossip on Harry and Meghan, says new book

Donald Trump besieged Queen Elizabeth II with a barrage of questions about her family and regard for previous presidents, according to a new book.

'The Queen and Her Presidents: The Hidden Hand That Shaped History, by Susan Page,' details the Queen’s relationships with a steady stream of US presidents, from her first encounter with President Harry Truman in 1951, when she was Princess Elizabeth, to the final state dinner of her seven-decade reign, held in 2019 in honour of President Trump.

During that state visit – the first of two Trump has made, but the last during the Queen’s life – he reportedly probed her majesty about her grandson Prince Harry’s relationship with his wife, Meghan, a few months after the birth of the couple’s first child. At the time, the British press was routinely reporting that a feud had developed between Prince Harry and Prince William, and their spouses.

Extracts, published by USA Today, from the book purportedly reveal Trump’s version of how the late Queen handled his questions.

“I asked her about it constantly,” Trump said, according to the book. “I’d say, ‘Come on, tell me [what you really think]’.”

She replied: “No, no. It’s very nice.”

Despite the Queen’s propriety, the president was apparently unconvinced.

“I really think it hurt her,” he said, in reference to the fallout reportedly occurring in the royal family. “I just don’t think they treated her with the respect that she should have, frankly.”

During the same state visit, Trump also attempted, unsuccessfully, to draw the Queen to appraise the other 14 US presidents she had met – 12 of them while they were in office – and to pick a favourite, the book reveals.

“I said, ‘So could I ask you who was your favourite president?’” he said.

The book recounts that she replied: “Why? They were all so good.”

Of the encounter, Trump reportedly said: “I couldn’t get her to say a bad thing about anybody.”

Despite refusing to choose, according to Page, Trump had a theory that the Queen’s all-time favourite was none other than himself.

“We just got along,” he said. The then-US ambassador Woody Johnson agreed, writes Page. “The president has a very keen sense of things like that,” the owner of the New York Jets football team added.

According to the book, some former presidents and first ladies were sceptical about Trump’s presumption.

“That’s hysterical,” Jill Biden said, while Joe Biden shook his head, the book describes. “Oh, that fits his character, for sure.”

Hillary Clinton reportedly responded, “Why am I not surprised by that?”, adding: “I don’t think there is any evidence to believe that could possibly be true.”

The Independent