King Charles III successfully reigned over Decrease Manhattan on Wednesday, bringing site visitors chaos, a heavy police presence, and press restrictions to the 9/11 Memorial — the place Mayor Zohran Mamdani greeted the British monarch hours after saying he may urge him to return a crown jewel lengthy disputed as a product of colonial conquest if the 2 spoke privately.
Footage from contained in the occasion confirmed Mamdani and Charles shaking arms and briefly conversing earlier than the king’s press secretary pushed cameras again. A supply acquainted with the trade stated the pair “exchanged pleasantries.”
Earlier Wednesday, Mamdani was requested what he would say if he had a non-public second with Charles on the memorial. After saying the main focus of the wreath-laying was honoring these killed on Sept. 11, Mamdani added: “If I was to speak to the king separately from that, I would probably encourage him to return the Koh-i-Noor diamond.”
The Koh-i-Noor, now a part of the British Crown Jewels, originated in India and handed via Mughal, Persian, Afghan and Sikh rulers earlier than the British compelled 10-year-old Maharaja Duleep Singh to give up it in 1849, alongside together with his declare to sovereignty, after annexing Punjab.
Britain’s King Charles greets New York Gov. Kathy Hochul as former New York Metropolis Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Queen Camilla look on throughout a go to to the 9/11 Memorial, in New York, U.S., April 29, 2026. Yuki Iwamura/Pool by way of REUTERS
The wreath-laying ceremony honored these killed within the Sept. 11, 2001, terror assaults practically 25 years after the day of infamy. Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mamdani, together with former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who now serves because the 9/11 Memorial chair, accompanied Charles and Queen Camilla to the somber ceremony.
But it was tough for native press to get a view of the occasion. Hochul’s workplace issued RSVPs for the occasion, whereas Mamdani’s workplace marketed the crossover as open to the press. However native reporters had been in the end saved from viewing the ceremony itself after the British Embassy had ultimate say.
A spokesperson for the Embassy didn’t reply to requests for remark on the time of publication.
Site visitors enforcement brokers and NYPD officers lined streets across the memorial because the royal go to locked down components of Decrease Manhattan. The 1 practice skipped WTC Cortlandt in each instructions from 5:45 a.m. to three p.m., with riders directed to Rector Road or Chambers Road.
Photograph by Lloyd Mitchell
Charles and Camilla had arrived in New York on Wednesday after stops in Washington, D.C., and Virginia. Their New York itinerary included the 9/11 Memorial and the New York Public Library, the place Camilla was anticipated to donate a “Roo” doll to the library’s Winnie-the-Pooh assortment.
In Washington, Charles addressed Congress and attended a state dinner hosted by President Donald Trump. As reported by The New York Instances, the British King used his congressional remarks to focus on the trans-Atlantic alliance whereas emphasizing themes akin to checks and balances and environmental safety, amid stress between the 2 international locations over the struggle in Iran. On the dinner, the 2 leaders praised the “special relationship,” with Charles joking that it was “an improvement on the Boston Tea Party” and presenting Trump with a bell from a British World Conflict II submarine.
‘My king’
Maria, an Anglophile from Connecticut, waited behind barricades in Decrease Manhattan on Wednesday, hoping to catch a glimpse of King Charles III.Photograph by Lloyd Mitchell
The colonial historical past invoked by the mayor earlier within the day was additionally on the minds of protesters throughout the road from the memorial, the place a small group of Sikh demonstrators rallied in assist of Khalistan, a proposed unbiased Sikh homeland in Punjab.
“We want the British to right the wrong, the mistake that they made in 1947,” stated Jagdeep Singh, a New York-based protester.
Singh stated Britain ought to have restored Sikh sovereignty when it left India, reasonably than making Punjab a part of the Indian Union.
“The only solution that we have is independence,” he stated, including that the group needs Britain to assist Sikh self-determination and a Khalistan referendum.
Jagdeep Singh, a New York-based Khalistan supporter, held a protest signal calling on King Charles III’s to “right the wrong” 
Sikh demonstrators rallied close to the 9/11 Memorial on Wednesday in assist of Khalistan, a proposed unbiased Sikh homeland in Punjab.Photograph by Lloyd Mitchell
The Khalistan motion first gained international consideration within the Nineteen Eighties after years of unrest in India’s Punjab area and armed battle with the Indian state. Whereas assist for the motion is closely suppressed inside India, it has endured amongst components of the Sikh diaspora via rallies and nonbinding referendums.
Outdoors the safety perimeter, the royal go to drew a mixture of curious onlookers, devoted royal watchers, and pissed off spectators attempting to traverse the locked-down streets.
One Anglophile waving a Union Jack, Maria, got here from Connecticut earlier than daybreak to see the monarch she referred to as “my king.”
“Well, ‘see’ being a relevant term,” she stated from behind the barricades. “I doubt I’m going to see him, but that was the plan.”
Photograph by Lloyd Mitchell 
Photograph by Lloyd Mitchell
She stated she left Connecticut round 5:45 a.m. and had been ready in Decrease Manhattan since about 8:30. However like different spectators and members of the press, she was too far-off to see the ceremony unfold.
Chatting with New York News, adorned in royal paraphernalia, Maria described herself plainly: “I’m an Anglophile.” She stated she nonetheless considers the late Queen Elizabeth “my queen.”
“Politicians, to me, tend to divide people,” she stated. “Whereas royalty is just so much god-like majesty that tends to unite everyone, because they’re not political.”
Requested concerning the current spate of “No Kings” protests in opposition to the Trump administration, Maria was unmoved.
“I don’t really know what they’re protesting, since America technically does not have a king,” she stated. “So I think they’re kind of wasting their time.”
Then, mid-interview, somebody appeared to mistake a passerby within the distance for the monarch.
“Charles!” Maria screamed, inflicting the cameras round her to snap to consideration.
“No,” Maria stated. “It’s just an old guy.”
