US President Donald Trump has offered a personal family anecdote about his Scottish mother’s fondness for the royal family, recalling how she once called a young King Charles III “cute.”
Trump made the statements during a speech at the White House attended by King Charles and Queen Camilla on the second day of their trip to the United States.
He spoke lovingly of his mother, Mary Anne MacLeod, who was born on Scotland’s Hebridean island of Lewis before moving to New York in 1930.
“I remember her saying very clearly, ‘Charles, look, young Charles, he is so cute,'” Trump said.
He added humorously, “My mother had a crush on Charles – can you believe it?”
During the address, Trump also made an upward gesture and quipped, “I wonder what she is thinking right now.”
Further reflecting on his mother’s origins, he stated, “My wonderful mother, Mary MacLeod, was born in Stornoway, Scotland, the Hebrides. “And that is what they call ‘very serious Scotland’; there is no question about it.
“Some places they say, ‘Was it really Scotland?’ Well, the Hebrides, that is real serious Scotland; that is where they had the greatest of warriors.
“She came to America at 19 and met my incredible father—we loved him so much—Fred, and they were married for 63 years.”
Throughout the speech, King Charles was spotted laughing as Trump resumed his statements.
“I told the king that she [Donald Trump’s mother] loved the royal family, and she loved the queen,” Trump said.
“And any time the Queen was involved in a ceremony or anything, my mother would be glued to the television, and she would say, ‘Look, Donald, look how beautiful that is.’
“She really did love the family.”
Mary Anne MacLeod, born in 1912 in Tong near Stornoway, was one of thousands of Scots who moved to North America in the early twentieth century in quest of better economic possibilities.
