Looking Back At Trump's Controversial Meetings With Queen Elizabeth II; Ex-POTUS Broke Protocol

Queen Elizabeth II, who passed away Thursday aged 96, met 13 sitting United States presidents in her life, but her meetings with former President Donald Trump were regarded as the most unusual.

Trump met the British monarch twice, in 2018 and 2019. Both meetings were marred with controversy after the former president broke protocol.

For example, in 2018, Trump and first lady Melania Trump were invited for tea with the Queen at Windsor Castle. However, the then-president kept the monarch waiting for about 12 minutes in 80-degree heat.

After sharing tea, Trump and the Queen inspected the guard at Windsor Castle. At one point, he seemed to briefly walk in front of the Queen and then stopped abruptly, forcing the British monarch to sidestep around him. The act broke British royal protocol, which states that people should never turn their back on the Queen.

In addition to breaking royal protocols, Trump had also lashed out at London Mayor Sadiq Khan for allowing protesters to fly a giant orange balloon depicting the then-president as a fat baby in a diaper during his state visit.

"I guess when they put out blimps to make me feel unwelcome, no reason for me to go to London," Trump told The Sun. "I used to love London as a city. I haven't been there in a long time. But when they make you feel unwelcome, why would I stay there?"

Trump rehashed his feud with Khan in 2019 when he compared the latter to "our very dumb and incompetent Mayor of NYC, de Blasio." Trump was due to meet the Queen for a state visit the same day.

"Kahn reminds me very much of our very dumb and incompetent Mayor of NYC, de Blasio, who has also done a terrible job - only half his height," Trump wrote in a now-deleted tweet.

His comments came after Khan wrote a scathing opinion piece in The Observer where he blasted Trump's state visit and slammed the then-president's "divisive behavior" that "flies in the face of the ideals America was founded upon."

Following the tweet, Trump and Melania visited Buckingham Palace where they broke another major British royal protocol by shaking hands with the Queen and Prince Charles instead of a traditional bow or curtsy.

Melania was also seen extending a hand toward Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall. Protocols call for guests to wait for the members of the British royal family to initiate the handshake.