The Scottish Mail on Sunday

Day Wills erupted in fury at Trump’s topless snaps jibe

- From Caroline Graham IN LOS ANGELES

PRINCE WILLIAM and his father erupted into ‘torrents of profanity’ after Donald Trump made disparagin­g comments about topless paparazzi photograph­s of Kate, a new book claims.

The Royals were ‘furious’ after the former President took to Twitter to comment on highly intrusive pictures taken by French photograph­ers in 2012 while William and Kate were staying on a private estate in Provence, according to The King: The Life Of Charles III, published in the US next week.

Trump wrote: ‘Kate Middleton is great but she shouldn’t be sunbathing in the nude – only herself to blame. Who wouldn’t take Kate’s picture and make lots of money if she does the nude sunbathing thing? Come on Kate!’

Author Christophe­r Andersen claims the comment ‘resulted in what one Clarence House butler referred to as “torrents of profanity” from both [the then] Prince Charles and his sons’.

The Royals were allegedly so upset they tried to ‘discourage’ Trump’s 2017 state visit to the UK, which ultimately did not take place.

Andersen writes: ‘Charles, William and Harry burned up the phone lines between Clarence House and Kensington Palace with all three Princes agreeing to work behind the scenes to discourage Trump’s visit.

‘Throughout 2017 and into 2018, Britons seemed nearly as fascinated with the tweet-storming Trump as their American cousins. The Royal Family was no exception. At every opportunit­y, including Prince Harry’s wedding reception, Charles took his wealthy and influentia­l American friends aside and gently prodded them for informatio­n.’

St James’s Palace released a statement after a French magazine published the topless pictures, calling the invasion of privacy ‘grotesque’ and saying: ‘Their Royal Highnesses had every expectatio­n of privacy in the remote house.

‘It is unthinkabl­e that anyone should take such photograph­s, let alone publish them.’

Trump further offended the Royals, Andersen says, by agreeing he could have ‘nailed’ the late Princess Diana. The billionair­e businessma­n ‘aggressive­ly pursued’ her after her divorce but she ‘rebuffed’ him. During an appearance on shock jock Howard Stern’s radio show, Trump was asked: ‘You could’ve gotten her, right? You could’ve nailed her?’ ‘I think I could have,’ Trump said. His pursuit of the Princess was confirmed by broadcaste­r Selina Scott, who said Diana had complained about being bombarded with flowers and letters from Trump.

Buckingham Palace has not commented on the Andersen book.

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