During the 1980s, when Trump was trying to make it as a new developer in New York City, the tabloids reported that Prince Charles and Princess Diana were interested in purchasing a $5m (£3.7m) condo in Trump Tower. The rumour, many have said, was probably started by Trump himself.
The Associated Press would later put out a denial from Buckingham Palace that said “there was no truth,” to the original report.
Dickie Arbiter, a press spokesman for the late Queen Elizabeth II, said Trump wasn’t on the royals’ radar at all at that time.
“People have been doing it since the year dot, getting publicity through the royals. They will make outrageous comments and unless it’s libellous, the royals won’t do anything about it. Never explain, never complain is their mantra,” he said.
The incident was addressed by Trump himself in The Art of the Deal but with a slightly different telling. Trump wrote that he got a call from a reporter asking whether or not it was true that Prince Charles had purchased an apartment in Trump Tower.
He noted it was the week when the royal couple had married and were, he wrote, “the most celebrated couple in the world”. He claimed he refused to confirm or deny the rumour, but said the press story helped promote Trump Tower.
Royal watcher Kristen Meinzer says Trump has spent decades trying to style himself in the same mould as the royals and to create an aura around himself as if he was nobility.
“When he bought Mar a Lago, he essentially adopted the coat of arms of the previous owners,” she said. “He is styling himself as if he is aristocracy, as if he’s royalty, and he has done that his whole career.”
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