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Senior members of the Royal Family, including the first and second in line to the throne, had informal discussions about the trip, and let it be known they did not want to take part in arrangements for the US President’s four-day UK visit.
Downing Street and Buckingham Palace both said as Trump’s tour of the UK was not an official state visit, there was a singular plan to meet the Queen alone with Melania Trump drawn up.
But a source said senior courtiers discussed which royals should meet the controversial president and shared the same concerns as William and Charles.
Prince Charles allegedly had a board meeting for his AG Carrick company, while the Duke of Cambridge was playing in a charity polo match and Prince Harry had private engagements.
The source told the Sunday Times: “This business of Prince Charles and Prince William not being there for the Trump visit was a snub.
“They simply refused to attend. It’s a very, very unusual thing for the Queen to be there on her own.
“Usually she is accompanied by somebody. Prince Charles has been substituting for Phillip a lot lately.”
And speaking of Phillip, who retired from formal royal duties recently, the source said: “He goes to what he wants to go to, and if he wanted to be there he could have been.”
Prince Harry is good friend with previous Preisdent Barack Obama, with the pair teaming up to promote the Invictus Games in the past.
And Harry’s new wife Meghan has been a vocal critic of Mr Trump before she became a royal, and therefore having to steer clear of making political statements.
Before her relationship became known, she spoke about supporting Hillary Clinton for her Democratic Presidential campaign.
She said at the time:
During Mr Trump’s UK visit he broke royal protocol – seemingly by accident – by failing to bow to her Majesty and then walked on in front of her when the pair were inspecting the guard.
A Whitehall official also revealed that Mr Trump’s one-on-one time with the Queen was kept to a “bare minimum”.
The official said: “The Queen will do her duty, but among the wider family, they were not as enthusiastic as they were when Obama came over.”
Last year, it emerged that Mr Trump as reluctant to meet Prince Charles, due to their polarising stances on climate change.
Mr Trump’s aides looked to hold a meeting with the younger royal officials, which were rejected, while a proposed golf match with Prince Andrew were largely ignored.
A minister admitted that there was concern about Trump’s working visit to the UK, denied that a formal invitation was rejected.
They said: “They might have had a view that they were happy not to do it but it is not true that it was on the cards and they refused to do it.”
A Buckingham Palace source said: “This was not a state visit and the involvement of other members of the royal family would be different.
“There was never any approach by the government or others, formally or informally, to Clarence House, Kensington Palace or The Duke of York’s office.
A Downing Street source reiterated Buckingham Palace’s official view, clarifying: “This was always going to be just the Queen.”
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