NEW YORK — New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said Wednesday he would urge King Charles III to return a giant crown jewel to India if the two spoke privately — a comment that marked the first sign of animosity in a royal visit to the otherwise heated state.
Mamdani is scheduled to meet Charles at a wreath-laying ceremony in lower Manhattan on Wednesday afternoon.
When asked at a press conference a few hours before the 9/11 ceremony, Mamdani said, “If I had to say anything differently, I would probably encourage them to return the Kohinoor diamond,” he said, referring to a giant bauble set in a royal crown displayed in the Tower of London.
has turned to stone a point of contention","Add":{"Target": :"New","Property":(),"url": :"https://www.npr.org/2023/05/04/1173260412/kohinoor-diamond-coronation-charles-camilla-crown","_Identification": :"0000019d-da2e-d930-a7fd-ff3f7ad30006","_Type": :"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_Identification": :"0000019d-da2e-d930-a7fd-ff3f7ad30007","_Type": :"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>a point of contention Between England and India, which was under colonial rule for two centuries until the end of World War II. However, other countries, including Iran and Pakistan, have also laid claim to the stone.
A spokesperson for the royal family declined to comment on Mamdani’s remarks.
Charles and Queen Camilla are set to attend 9/11 ceremonies on Wednesday afternoon as part of their four-day visit to the US, which is to include a private meeting between Charles and President Donald Trump, and object address","Add":{"Target": :"New","Property":(),"url": :"https://www.politico.eu/article/king-charles-us-congress-speech-hidden-messages/","_Identification": :"0000019d-da2e-d930-a7fd-ff3f7ad30008","_Type": :"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_Identification": :"0000019d-da2e-d930-a7fd-ff3f7ad30009","_Type": :"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>gestural address Congress and a sumptuous White House dinner.
As Politico reported on Wednesdayreported to","Add":{"Target": :"New","Property":(),"url": :"https://www.politico.com/news/2026/04/29/mamdani-to-meet-the-monarchs-00896761","_Identification": :"0000019d-da2e-d930-a7fd-ff3f7ad3000a","_Type": :"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_Identification": :"0000019d-da2e-d930-a7fd-ff3f7ad3000b","_Type": :"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>Reported on WednesdayHowever, the reception from the mayor of New York City has been very cold.
Mamdani’s democratic socialist beliefs, his early exposure to his academic father’s thinking on African politics, and the lasting effects of British colonial rule all figure into the mayor’s cool outward posture towards the crown.
Indeed, for the second time in three days, when Mamdani was asked about any message to the royals at Ground Zero, he took care to omit them from his initial answer.
“I will join Governor Hochul, Governor Sherrill, and other elected officials in laying the wreath, and the focus of that wreath is to honor the more than 3,000 New Yorkers who died in the terrible terrorist attacks of September 11,” he said. “And that’s really what I’m looking to do in that program.”
