Trump falsely claims Queen inspected Guard of Honour for first time in 70 years because of his visit

The Queen has only been on the throne for 66 years

Chelsea Ritschel
Wednesday 18 July 2018 18:26 BST
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Trump touches down in the UK

President Trump has falsely claimed that the Queen inspected her Honour Guard for the first time in 70 years - all because of his visit to the UK.

During the President’s first official visit to London last week, he met Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor Castle, where the pair proceeded to inspect a Guard of Honour comprised of the Coldstream Guards.

The long-standing tradition was widely-discussed after it appeared President Trump had broken royal protocol by walking ahead of the Queen.

Now, in a statement to the press on Tuesday, Trump wrongly stated that the honour bestowed upon him was one that had not been carried out for decades - which is untrue.

He said: "We met with the queen, who is absolutely a terrific person, where she reviewed her Honour Guard for the first time in 70 years, they tell me. We walked in front of the Honour Guard and that was very inspiring to see and be with her. And I think the relationship, I can truly say is a good one. But she was very, very inspiring indeed."

The Queen actually inspects her Honour Guard many times a year and does so for important events such as visiting heads of state.

Of the president’s claim, royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams told The Independent it is "obviously total fiction."

The Queen and President Trump inspected the Guard of Honour

Calling Trump’s comment “inane,” Fitzwilliams pointed out how it could not possibly be true - the Queen was 22-years-old 70 years ago and had not yet taken the throne.

Queen Elizabeth II is the longest-reigning British monarch but has only been on the throne for 66 years.

During the time since she first ascended the throne in 1952, the monarch has met with 10 US presidents.

Since the President’s false claim that his visit alone was important enough to merit an inspection of the Honour Guard, he has been mocked on Twitter.

The President falsely claimed his visit prompted the first inspection in 70 years

“Exactly how old does he think she is?” one person asked in response to Trump’s statement.

Another said: “Trump claims that the Queen reviewed her Honour Guard for the first time in 70 years. That’s absolute nonsense.”

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