The mayor shook hands with the King during his visit to New York City on Wednesday, April 29

Zohran Mamdani and King Charles meet in N.Y.C. on April 29, 2026.Credit : Jeenah Moon – Pool/Getty

King Charles met with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Wednesday, April 29, just one day after the Democratic politician shared the controversial thing he’d most like to ask the monarch in private.

Following the King and Queen Camilla’s visit to the 9/11 Memorial in Lower Manhattan, they shook hands with Mamdani and other other N.Y.C. officials.

The King, 77, and the mayor, 34, exchanged words for several moments. Members of the press were kept at a distance by security, making it difficult to hear what they discussed, though a pool reporter noted Mamdani was “all smiles and laughs.”

Mayor Zohran Mamdani shakes hands with King Charles in New York City on April 29, 2026.Jeenah Moon – Pool/Getty

The day prior, during a press conference, Mamdani was questioned about what he would want to say to the King if the two spoke privately.

“If I were to speak to the King separately from that, I’d probably encourage him to return the Koh-i-Noor diamond,” Mamdani said.

The Koh-i-Noor is one of the most controversial of the crown jewels and has not been displayed publicly in recent years to avoid scrutiny. The diamond was taken off the arm of 11-year-old Duleep Singh, the last Maharajah of the Sikh Empire, during the reign of Queen Victoria and a period of rapid British colonization.

When he was just 5 years old, Duleep Singh had the Koh-i-Noor fastened to his arm as a symbol that he had finally succeeded his father, Ranjit Singh, to become the Maharaja after years of turmoil and infighting. However, times were not peaceful, and both the diamond and the empire would not be his for very long.

After surrendering to the British at the end of the Second Anglo-Sikh War, the Sikh Empire lost its last remaining territories to the East India Company. When the Last Treaty of Lahore was signed, a multitude of their treasures, including the Koh-i-Noor, officially became the property of Queen Victoria.

Not only did the British take the diamond, they also recut it. Seeking to refine the stone into a more anglicized style, the Koh-i-Noor was reduced from 186 carats to just under 106 and completely redesigned. It is said that when Duleep Singh — who was also brought to England by Queen Victoria — was shown the new diamond, he was unable to speak for several minutes.

Today, calls to return the diamond to its rightful owner endure; however, due to the modern development of the land that was controlled by the Sikh Empire, India, Pakistan and Afghanistan have all laid claim to the gem, muddying the matter of simply “giving it back.”

The modern British monarchs have been careful to keep the diamond out of the public eye. There were thoughts that, for Coronation Day in 2023, Queen Camilla might wear the controversial crown that Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, wore to her husband King George’s coronation in 1937, which has the Koh-i-Noor as its centerpiece.

Months before the event, a spokesman for India’s ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, told the Daily Telegraph that the “coronation of Camilla and the use of the crown jewel Koh-i-Noor brings back painful memories of the colonial past.”

Buckingham Palace evaded the matter, simply stating that Camilla would instead be wearing a revamped version of Queen Mary’s crown in the interest of “sustainability and efficiency.”

It’s no surprise that Mamdani might be passionate about such a powerful symbol of colonization. Not only are his parents both of Indian descent, but his father, Mahmood Mamdani, is an anthropologist and academic specializing in African and international politics, colonialism and post‐colonialism, and his mother, Mira Nair, is a political filmmaker.

Despite his strong anti-colonial stance, Mamdani certainly seemed to charm the King during their meeting. He has a track record of winning over political antagonists, after all. He and President Donald Trump had a surprisingly cordial meeting at the White House back in November 2025.

Following what both politicians called a “successful” private discussion, they took questions from the press, where Trump emphasized how impressed he was that he and Mamdani agreed on some major issues.

“Being the mayor of New York City is a big deal,” the president said, praising the mayor-elect. “Especially now. I think you’re at a turning point… I think you have a chance to make it great.”

N.Y.C. Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani and President Donald Trump on Nov. 21, 2025.Yuri Gripas/Abaca/Bloomberg via Getty

Ultimately, Trump was asked an important question by one of the reporters: “You used to call New York City home. Would you feel comfortable living in New York City under a Mamdani administration?”

“Yeah, I would. I really would,” Trump said. “Especially after the meeting. We agree on a lot more than I would have thought.”