‘In Another Life, He Could Be My Son’ – Did Queen Elizabeth Call Trump ‘An Amazing Person’?
An image shared on Facebook claimed that Queen Elizabeth II said of President Donald Trump, “He’s really just an amazing person. So thoughtful, you know. We’ve had some private talks and he is very genuine. I have a sense about people, and the president has a good heart. In another life, he could be my son.”
Verdict: False
There is no evidence that the queen made such a statement. She rarely gives interviews or speaks publicly about politics.
Fact Check:
This post appeared in response to Trump’s state visit to the U.K., where he met with British leaders, including the royal family.
We traced the quote back to The Clover Chronicle, a site that shares conspiratorial news stories. “A staffer at an unnamed MSM news outlet in the United Kingdom is claiming they were recently involved in an interview with Queen Elizabeth II where she unexpectedly complimented U.S. President Donald Trump,” it wrote June 4. “The alleged insider said executives at the organization are ‘fuming’ because they couldn’t salvage the piece due to her relentless praise of the POTUS.”
The claim also appears on 4 Chan, posted anonymously.
The quote is immediately dubious because the queen rarely gives interviews. The BBC managed to secure a January 2018 documentary with the queen, which one of the producers says took more than two decades to arrange. Described as a “conversation,” the interviewer wasn’t allowed to ask any direct questions.
Furthermore, the queen is historically apolitical in public. She remained silent about Brexit, for example, except for what many interpreted as vague allusions when asking for Britons to find “common ground.” It is therefore unlikely that the queen would have spoken about Trump in a positive, or negative, light.
“As Head of State The Queen has to remain strictly neutral with respect to political matters, unable to vote or stand for election,” the royal family’s website reads.
No news staffers have come forward about a scrapped interview with the queen, nor have any major news outlet reported on the quote. A spokesperson for Buckingham Palace told Snopes that no such interview took place.
When describing his recent visit with the queen, Trump said, “I think I can say I really got to know her because I sat with her many times, and we had automatic chemistry, you understand that feeling, it’s a good feeling.”