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President Donald Trump is planning to visit the United Kingdom next week, and he's expected to meet with both Prime Minister Theresa May and Queen Elizabeth. Questions have been swirling about how much the members of the royal family will be involved in his visit because over the years quotes from Trump's on the royal family have been... uncomfortable.
During the 1990s, Trump attempted to date Lady Diana Spencer by sending her lots of flowers after her divorce from Prince Charles. Diana reportedly described his repeated overtures as "stalking."
When Diana died, he made crude comments about wanting to have sex with her on Howard Stern's radio show. Before marrying into the English royal family, Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle reportedly avoided Trump when he was a guest star on the television show Deal Or No Deal where she was working as a suitcase model in the 2000s.
And this is not even stuff in the distant past. When Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, had topless photos of her from a vacation published by a French magazine without her consent in 2012, Trump excused the invasion of privacy because they would "make lots of money."
So, let's start at the beginning with Lady Diana Spencer.
It Goes All The Way Back To Diana
Donald Trump apparently wanted Diana to be his "trophy wife" back in the 1990s. And not just a trophy wife, but he saw her as "the ultimate trophy wife," according to Selina Scott, a veteran BBC reporter and critic of Trump since they met when she hosted a documentary on him for British TV in the 90s.
Selina Scott wrote in August 2015 about Trump's attempts to woo Diana after Diana's divorce from Prince Charles in 1996:
Trump clearly saw Diana as the ultimate trophy wife. As the roses and orchids piled up at her apartment she became increasingly concerned about what she should do. It had begun to feel as if Trump was stalking her.
Scott learned of this when she later met Diana for dinner. "'What am I going to do?' she asked. 'He gives me the creeps.' 'Just throw them in the bin,'" I advised," Scott wrote. "Diana laughed."
Later, in Trump's book The Art of the Comeback, Trump called Diana "the one regret in the women department."
Trump Had Lots Of Opinions About Princess Diana
Only weeks after Diana's death in Paris, Trump told Howard Stern that he could have slept with her.
Trump later said he would have slept with Diana despite the fact that "she was crazy" as "those are minor details," according to Marie Claire. In that same 1997 interview, Trump said "she had times when she didn’t look great." But Trump said Diana was "supermodel beautiful."
Trump made specific notes about Diana's appearance to Stern: "She had the height … she had magnificent skin," Trump said, according to The Washington Post.
Diana made waves when she admitted to a secret battle with bulimia and her struggles with her appearance and mental health.
Trump's Comments On Kate Middleton's Topless Photos
In 2012 while she was on vacation in the south of France, topless photos of Kate Middleton were published in a French tabloid. Kate and Prince William filed a complaint in French court shortly thereafter because the privacy laws are much tougher, according to USA Today.
Trump tweeted twice about the topless photos. "Kate Middleton is great--but she shouldn't be sunbathing in the nude--only herself to blame," he first tweeted.
He followed up by excusing the publishing of the photos because they were a money maker. "Who wouldn't take Kate's picture and make lots of money if she does the nude sunbathing thing. Come on Kate!" he wrote
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were awarded damages from the published topless paparazzi photos in France in September 2017.
Trump will visit the United Kingdom later in July, but will largely skip visiting London. He will meet with May at her country retreat, with the Queen at Windsor Castle, and attend a dinner at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire. It's unclear how many other royals will be present to greet Trump.
