Touchy Trump risks breaking royal protocol with a tactile display with his friend King Charles

A touchy President Donald Trump risked breaking royal protocol several times on Wednesday as he patted King Charles on the back and grabbed his arm in a warm display of affection.

The president and first lady were at Windsor Castle for a historic second state visit. 

From the moment Trump arrived, the president put on a tactile display, grabbing Charles above the elbow during their initial greeting. 

Later, Trump guided Charles onto a viewing stand so they could enjoy a ‘Beating Retreat’ – a musical military spectacle – alongside Queen Camilla and First Lady Melania Trump. 

When they departed the event, which featured a grand military flyover, Trump put his hand on Charles again as they walked up a set of steps to head back to the castle. 

Judi James, a body language expert, told the Daily Mail that Trump’s ‘tactile behavior’ is ‘primarily about choreography and a sense of mutual respect.’  

‘As the two men made their way around the parade ground, up steps, down steps and to their seats there are a series of touches and pats that they use to tell each other who should go first or when to sit,’ James said.

During Queen Elizabeth II’s reign, protocol experts warned visiting dignitaries not to touch her. 

President Donald Trump (right) ushered King Charles (left) onto the viewing stand where they took in a ‘Beating Retreat’ ceremony Wednesday afternoon 

There was shock when she and First Lady Michelle Obama briefly hugged during a 2009 encounter. 

Queen Elizabeth appeared to have initiated the action, and the palace characterized it as a ‘mutual and spontaneous display of affection and appreciation’ at the time. 

James pointed out that ‘Charles is less assured when it comes to that kind of old-school protocol and often seems to need steering himself.’ 

‘There were several times today when he looked unsure where he and his guest should sit,’ she said. 

When the king got up to the viewing platform at the Beating Retreat ceremony, he briefly paused, looking back and forth between the four chairs before pointing out to Trump where he and Melania should sit. 

‘Trump tended to use his back-pats to usher the King to go first, eventually, by the time they reached the stage for the fly-past, looking more like the host than Charles,’ James observed. 

James also believed Trump’s touchiness with Charles happened because others aren’t allowed to do it. 

‘For Trump there is probably a form of compulsion to touch Charles “because I can,”‘ she said.

Former First Lady Michelle Obama (left) shocked the world when she and Queen Elizabeth II (right) hugged during a 2009 visit to Buckingham Palace 

President Donald Trump (center) again touched King Charles (right) on the back as they departed the Beating Retreat ceremony Wednesday at Windsor Castle 

‘Royals are notoriously un-tactile and it used to be a severe flaunting of protocol rules to touch a monarch but as the most powerful man in the Western world, Trump seems to bask in the fact that he can call the King “A friend” and use the kind of love language that friends do with each other, which is regular touches as tie signs of affection, appreciation and respect,’ she added.  

On Wednesday, among the pomp and programming, Trump didn’t have a chance to talk to the press, but he gushed about his relationship with Charles the night before. 

‘He’s been a friend of mine for a long time. And everybody respects him; and they love him,’ Trump said of King Charles outside of Winfield House Tuesday night.