King Charles III and Queen Camilla briefly met New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on April 29 during the royal couple's visit to the 9/11 Memorial, where they honored the victims of the Sept. 11 attacks and met with first responders.
The brief exchange came hours after Mamdani told reporters that he would privately urge the monarch to return the Koh‑i‑Noor to India, a historically disputed diamond held by the British Crown, if given the chance to speak with Charles one‑on‑one.
"If I were to speak to the king separately from that, I would probably encourage him to return the Koh-i-Noor Diamond," Mamdani, a Muslim born in Uganda to parents of Indian descent, said at the event, Reuters reported.
It was not immediately clear whether Mamdani raised the issue during his brief conversation with the king at the memorial. USA TODAY reached out to Mamdani’s office for comment but did not receive an immediate response.
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