Royal sources say Charles’s connections with Islamic world might help his views to carry weight with the US president

Prince Charles would welcome a meeting with Donald Trump to discuss interfaith relations, sources close to him have said, amid a growing outcry over the US ban on travel from seven Muslim-majority countries.

A royal source said Charles remained willing to meet Trump if the state visit by the new US president went ahead, saying: “It is not his style to turn his back.”



The prince’s record as an advocate for interfaith relations and his high-level connections in the Islamic world, including close relations with Saudi and Gulf state royals, were cited by royal sources as reasons why his views might carry weight with Trump.

More than 1.5 million people have signed a petition asking No 10 to withdraw the US president’s invitation to a state visit to Britain.

The prince is said to have become increasingly concerned about religious intolerance, and last week told a private reception at Lambeth Palace he was dismayed that a report on religious persecution around the world had gone under-reported.

His supporters say he is in a position to speak frankly to world leaders without worrying about short-term politics.

“The prince has gone into the Middle East over recent years at the government’s request and has been the honest and neutral broker,” one source said. “He has listened, reported back and convened. If that is required now with President Trump, the only people who can decide is the government.

“For this country, it would be helpful for [Trump] to sit down with the Prince of Wales.”

Despite the international outcry over Trump’s travel ban, the prince is expected to approach any meeting with the president as an opportunity rather than a problem, allies said.



Charles has repeatedly highlighted the plight of persecuted Christians in Syria, an issue that Trump has also raised, and this may provide a bridge between the two men.

“We are now seeing the rise of many populist groups across the world that are increasingly aggressive towards those who adhere to a minority faith,” the prince said on BBC Radio 4’s Thought of the Day last month.

Royal sources believe the topics of interfaith dialogue and religious persecution are as likely to come up at any meeting between Trump and Charles as climate change, another faultline between US and UK policy.

The prince reportedly hopes to hear what Trump has to say on climate change and build a relationship with the US president on that issue.

Royal sources were keen to stress that the prince remained “very relaxed” about whether the planned state visit included a meeting with Trump. There were reports that Trump’s team were concerned Charles would lecture the president, although Clarence House made clear he had no such intention.



Buckingham Palace will be tasked with helping to organise the visit along with the Foreign Office. As tens of thousands of people attended demonstrations around the UK on Monday evening protesting against the US president, there appeared to be little progress on settling on dates for the visit or the programme, including whether it would take place at Buckingham Palace or Windsor Castle.

April had been floated as a possible month for a visit. However, that had looked unlikely even before the row over Trump’s extreme vetting programme.

Should it go ahead, a state visit is expected to afford Charles several opportunities to build a relationship with Trump, listen to his views and make suggestions where he feels he could be helpful, aides said.

Under standard protocols the Prince of Wales normally meets the head of state where they are staying and accompanies them to Horse Guards Parade before a procession to Buckingham Palace to meet the Queen. Charles would also be likely to attend lunch with Trump and a state dinner, and, if time allowed and the president was keen, take tea together at Clarence House, the prince’s London residence.

The planning comes amid signs that the heir to the throne is happier than ever to embrace what the 19th-century writer Walter Bagehot called the monarch’s constitutional right to “advise, warn and encourage”, pushing aside complaints from critics including republicans that he should remain silent on political affairs.

Last month Charles spoke out about global political change, saying: “We are now seeing the rise of many populist groups across the world that are increasingly aggressive towards those who adhere to a minority faith. All of this has deeply disturbing echoes of the dark days of the 1930s.”

Aides to the prince sought to make clear that his comments were not aimed at a particular politician or group.

Last week the topic he tackled was climate change with the release of a Ladybird book on the topic and warning it was a “wolf at the door”. It emerged that in parts of Whitehall he is now considered to be “an extremely good asset” in helping to maintain the integrity of the UN climate change treaty in the face of the US president’s previous pledge to “scrap” it.



Charles had been “gently primed” to assist diplomatic efforts on the issue, a senior Whitehall source said, and his views were considered “absolutely in line with government policy”.



Trump has described climate change as “created by and for the Chinese in order to make US manufacturing non-competitive”.ENDS