New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani appears not to be a fan of King Charles.
The mayor of New York City met with the King on Tuesday, but unlike the royal welcome Charles received at the White House, the King was met with very little hospitality.
After their meeting, Mamdani told the press that if he were to have a private meeting with King Charles, he would urge the King to return the Koh-i-Noor diamond back to India.
NBC New York had the full scoop:
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said Wednesday that if he had a one-on-one with King Charles III, he’d suggest the British monarch return a crown jewel to India.
ADVERTISEMENT“I would probably encourage him to return the Koh-i-Noor,” Mamdani said, referring to a 105.6-carat gem that the East India Company took from a deposed Indian leader in 1849 as a condition of a peace agreement.
The Koh-i-Noor, one of the world’s most famous diamonds, is set in the Crown of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, in the Tower of London.
The comment came about two hours before the mayor was expected to greet Charles and Queen Camilla at a wreath-laying ceremony at the 9/11 Memorial. The two were later seen all smiles as they shook hands.
Mamdani referenced the diamond earlier in the day, after an unrelated announcement, when he was directly asked what he’d say to the king in a hypothetical private meeting.
Initially, he dodged the question, but when pressed by NBC New York on whether he had even thought about it, the mayor commented on the Koh-i-Noor.
Here’s the moment Mamdani said it:
Journalist: King Charles will be in New York. What will you say to him?
Mamdani: I would highly encourage him to return the Kohinoor Diamond if I were to speak with him pic.twitter.com/J0JhQ4syqf
— Shashank Mattoo (@MattooShashank) April 29, 2026
Here’s Mamdani and Charles meeting:
King Charles Shakes Hands with NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani at 9/11 Memorialpic.twitter.com/XplkKTf8sZ
— NewsWire (@NewsWire_US) April 29, 2026
The New York Post reported that, unlike Trump, Mamdani was rude to the King:
This is a Guest Post from our friends over at WLTReport. View the original article here.Of course Zohran Mamdani couldn’t manage a decent welcome for the king of England: That would’ve required maturity, grace and humility that our mayor just doesn’t have.
ADVERTISEMENTMamdani did the absolute minimum to welcome King Charles III to New York as he visited the city Wednesday, agreeing (belatedly!) to just one brief meeting with the monarch, at the 9/11 Memorial — though the royal visited several sites across town.
Like any chief executive job, New York’s mayor has occasional ceremonial duties — but Mamdani’s not interested in them, as they won’t bring many TikTok likes.
Showing respect for the king is showing respect for Britain, yet Mamdani couldn’t resist showing disrespect.
Past mayors have done their duty with British royals: Mayor Robert Wagner threw a ticker-tape parade on Queen Elizabeth’s arrival in the city in 1957; Mayor Abe Beame’s granddaughter greeted her with flowers as her ship sailed in two decades later.
But Mamdani couldn’t bother with any such gestures; he couldn’t even set aside his obsession with colonialism, telling reporters he hoped to push Charles “to return the Koh-i-Noor diamond,” a 105-carat gem originally from India and now on display at the Tower of London.






