A resurfaced video appears to show King Charles III flipping former President Donald Trump the bird during Trump's 2019 visit to the United Kingdom after his mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II, hosted a gala for North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) leaders at Buckingham Palace to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the military alliance.
The video made the rounds online in the wake of Charles succeeding his mother to the throne after she died September 8 at the age of 96, ending her 70-year reign as Britain's longest reigning monarch.
Charles can be seen using his middle finger to scratch his nose while Trump and his wife, former First Lady Melania Trump, talk to the Queen.
The footage, which you can see for yourself below, left some Twitter users wondering if Charles was taking a subtle dig at the now ex-President.
\u201cThe new King of England, King Charles III, once flipped off Donald Trump:\u201d— Mrs. Betty Bowers (@Mrs. Betty Bowers) 1662664732
Charles might not exactly be popular—due to decades of scandal, none of the members of the royal family enjoy even a hint of the late Queen's popularity—but Twitter users lauded the newly-minted King once the video went viral.
As far as they were concerned, the gesture was hilarious, intentional or not.
\u201cThree cheers for the king!\u201d— \u260e\ufe0fHello\ud83d\udcde, Conspiracy Bureau \ud83c\udf0a\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6\u2b50\ufe0f \ud83c\udf0a #Bluecrew (@\u260e\ufe0fHello\ud83d\udcde, Conspiracy Bureau \ud83c\udf0a\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6\u2b50\ufe0f \ud83c\udf0a #Bluecrew) 1663089266
\u201cCharles got game! \ud83d\ude02\ud83e\udd23\u201d— Will on the Hill\ud83c\udf3b \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 (@Will on the Hill\ud83c\udf3b \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6) 1662805950
\u201cHe has gone up in my estimation\u201d— Wayne Garton (@Wayne Garton) 1662825830
\u201cIt\u2019s safe to say that the Royal Family doesn\u2019t like the Orange Blob.\u201d— Canadian Resistance \ud83c\udde8\ud83c\udde6 (@Canadian Resistance \ud83c\udde8\ud83c\udde6) 1662853723
\u201cThis is the greatest thing ever.\u201d— Patrick Moore \ud83c\udf3b (@Patrick Moore \ud83c\udf3b) 1662944309
\u201cyou've got to love King Charlie for that.\u201d— Michigan/Florida Girl (@Michigan/Florida Girl) 1663039363
\u201cCan you blame him?!\u201d— \ud83d\udc99Rhonda\ud83d\udc99\ud83c\udf0a (@\ud83d\udc99Rhonda\ud83d\udc99\ud83c\udf0a) 1662778045
\u201cThat's how one would get away with doing it. Good job, King!!!!\u201d— Shari2112 \ud83c\udf0a \ud83c\udf35 \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 (@Shari2112 \ud83c\udf0a \ud83c\udf35 \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6) 1662911210
But did the Queen catch Charles' sly gesture? At least one Twitter user thought so.
\u201cWatch Queen\u2019s sly smile as she catches it. \ud83d\ude06\u201d— Charles Shaughnessy (@Charles Shaughnessy) 1662913887
Trump's appearance at the NATO gala garnered criticism at the time because he regularly undermined NATO while in office and discussed withdrawing the United States from its NATO obligations entirely.
In 2017, European nations reacted with shock and defiance when Trump, then-President elect, suggested that the European Union would eventually break up and declared that NATO is "obsolete."
Speaking at the time in a joint interview with The London Times and the German publication Bild, Trump claimed that he'd said for years "that NATO had problems," stressing that the organization is "obsolete because it was designed many, many years ago" and criticizing member states for not "paying what they're supposed to be paying."
Trump's comments represent an unprecedented breach in transatlantic relations and came at a time when Europe faced several new elections in a year in which hardline anti-immigrant Euroskeptics made efforts to gain power. The consequences of a potential NATO breakdown are extensive: Guarantees from the U.S. are vital to European security and the U.S. and E.U. are each other's most valuable trade partners. On matters of war, peace, and wealth, the U.S. and E.U. are interlinked.
