Queen Elizabeth II "believed" that Donald and Melania Trump had an "arrangement" in their marriage because she couldn't understand why the first lady stayed around, a new book has said.
The Trumps met Queen Elizabeth on several occasions during their time in the White House and were hosted for a formal state visit to Britain by the monarch in 2019.
As first lady, Melania accompanied her husband both to a private tea at Windsor Castle, Berkshire, with the queen and for the state visit that was also attended by extended members of the royal family, including Prince William and Princess Kate.
The queen was famous for keeping her personal thoughts and opinions on people and events private. However, in an extract of his upcoming book Q: A Voyage Around the Queen published by the U.K. newspaper Daily Mail, author Craig Brown has said that Elizabeth did not view Donald Trump favorably or understand his marriage.
"Over the course of her reign, Her Majesty entertained many controversial leaders, including Robert Mugabe, Idi Amin, Donald Trump, Emperor Hirohito and Vladimir Putin. She may not have found their company convivial, and may even have voiced a word of disapproval," Brown wrote.
"A few weeks after President Trump's visit, she confided in a lunch guest that she found him 'very rude', particularly disliking the way he couldn't stop looking over her shoulder, as if in search of others more interesting."
Brown added that the monarch "also believed Trump 'must have an arrangement' with wife Melania – why else would she remain married to him?"
In response, Steven Cheung, communications director for Donald Trump's reelection campaign, told Newsweek: "This is nothing more than fake news intended to use made-up, salacious fabrications in order to sell copies of a book that belongs in the bargain bin of the fiction section."
Newsweek approached Buckingham Palace via email for comment.
The Trumps' marriage has drawn repeated public focus in the years since the business mogul and television personality entered the political sphere.
Trump married Slovenian-American model Melania in 2005 and together they share one son, Barron, born in 2006.
Melania's absence from her husband's campaign trail provoked comment as he launched his bid for reelection in the 2024 presidential race.
In July, she made a rare appearance at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, just days after her husband survived an assassination attempt at a rally in Pennsylvania.
Following the event, which saw Trump narrowly avoid bullets fired from a nearby rooftop by 20-year-old shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, Melania issued a direct statement.
"When I watched that violent bullet strike my husband, Donald, I realized my life, and Barron's life, were on the brink of devastating change. I am grateful to the brave Secret Service agents and law enforcement officials who risked their own lives to protect my husband," she said.
The former first lady added: "A monster who recognized my husband as an inhuman political machine attempted to ring out Donald's passion - his laughter, ingenuity, love of music, and inspiration. The core facets of my husband's life - his human side - were buried below the political machine. Donald, the generous and caring man who I have been with through the best of times and the worst of times.
"We are all humans, and fundamentally, instinctively, we want to help one another. American politics are only one vehicle that can uplift our communities. Love, compassion, kindness and empathy are necessities."
James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek's royal reporter, based in London. You can find him on X (formerly Twitter) at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.
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