Princess Anne went viral this week after appearing to shrug at Queen Elizabeth II while she and other members of the royal family greeted President Trump.
The queen, flanked by fellow members of the royal family, appears to gesture at Princess Anne while greeting Trump in the video that has been shared thousands of times. Princess Anne shrugs in response to the president and first lady Melania Trump, in what some perceived to be a slight to Trump.
Many Twitter users supported Princess Anne’s gesture, interpreting it as her hesitancy to greet Trump.
Others took to Twitter to defend the president and call Princess Anne’s reaction rude as a member of the royal family greeting world leaders. Trump was in London this week to attend a NATO meeting marking the 70th anniversary of the alliance.
{mosads} Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) tweeted Wednesday, “When @POTUS travels outside our country, he represents us to the world. We are all Americans. We should wish him well and want him to succeed. Basic courtesies should be extended to the American President and First Lady. What Princess Anne did was unnecessary and disrespectful.”
But Valentine Low, a reporter at The Times, tweeted that the moment wasn’t actually a slight from Princess Anne at all. Instead, she was telling Queen Elizabeth that Trump was the last leader to be received.
President Trump canceled a press conference Wednesday after he was scheduled to participate at the conclusion of the summit. He said he would attend other scheduled meetings but then “probably go directly back to Washington.”
Trump also addressed a clip that circulated late Tuesday showing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appearing to gossip about Trump’s behavior at meetings the previous day. Trump called the Canadian leader “two-faced,” and he suggested Trudeau was upset because he has repeatedly called out Canada for not meeting NATO’s defense spending target of 2 percent of gross domestic product.