The recent Windsor spectacle for the US President had all the trimmings: a golden carriage procession, a lavish banquet under glittering chandeliers, and a sort of pomp only the Brits can pull off. But for the ‘Spare’ and his better half, watching from afar in California, the pageantry was a sting, as it celebrated a man who had publicly mocked, insulted, and threatened them.

The Sussexes have a long, strained history with the US President. And it goes well before their royal exit. To make matters worse, the US President, adding salt to the wounds, used his state dinner toast to heap praise on Prince William, calling him Charles’s remarkable son.’ William also making time for Trump and not meeting Prince Harry a week before might have played a role in it. And no wonder Harry understood it as a veiled snub. Rob Shutter, quoting insiders from California, wrote on his Substack. He said, “So when Trump praised William as Charles’s ‘remarkable son’ during his state dinner toast — leaving Harry out — the Sussexes took it as a fresh slap.” “It was a dig, no question,” says a source. “Watching the family laugh along felt like betrayal.”

This was obviously not the first time the Sussexes were at the receiving end of Trump’s opinionated commentary. Meghan Markle was dismissed as ‘nasty,’ and Harry was reduced to a punchline when he was dubbed ‘whipped’ by the politician. Not to forget, the Duke was nearly threatened with being thrown out of the US. Hence, to then watch the royal family treat Trump as an honored guest, and go all out for him, instead of a man who has ridiculed and them and called them names, was, in their minds, ‘unforgivable.’ A pal of Harry’s summed, “Harry and Meghan won’t forget this night — or the message it sent.”

The irony here is that Trump has not only been disrespectful to Harry and Markle. His complicated history with the royals also extends to Princess Diana and Kate Middleton. His fascination with Diana in the 1990s raised eyebrows, with biographer Christopher Andersen alleging that Trump ‘aggressively pursued’ her after her separation from Charles. Diana’s brother, Charles Spencer, later dismissed Trump’s claims, stressing, “The one time she mentioned him to me… she clearly viewed him as worse than an anal fissure.” Then there were his remarks about Middleton in 2012, after topless photographs of the Duchess sunbathing on holiday were illegally published.

Trump publicly snubbed Kate on X (formerly Twitter). “Kate Middleton is great — but she shouldn’t be sunbathing in the nude — only herself to blame,” he wrote, before adding, “Who wouldn’t take Kate’s picture and make lots of money if she does the nude sunbathing thing? Come on, Kate!” Andersen revealed that William was allegedly furious about it. “Trump’s criticism of Kate resulted in what one Clarence House butler referred to as ‘torrents of profanity’ from both Prince Charles and his sons.”

He also alleged that this wasn’t the first time the royals had openly expressed ire towards Trump. Before the 2012 incident, Andersen noted that the then-businessman’s comments about Diana were also not well-received by the royal family.