New York, May 2:
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is facing criticism for extending a “rude” welcome to King Charles III and for failing to “set aside his obsession with colonialism” when he called for the Koh-i-Noor diamond to be returned.
Just hours before he met King Charles III and Queen Camilla on Wednesday at the 9/11 Memorial in Manhattan, Mamdani had said he would encourage the British monarch to return the Koh-i-Noor diamond. When asked at a press conference what he would say to the king when he met him at the World Trade Center memorial, Mamdani had said that he would be attending a wreath-laying alongside a number of other elected officials, including New York State Governor Kathy Hochul and New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill.
When pressed further on what he would say to the British monarch, Mamdani had said, “If I was to speak to the king separately from that, I would probably encourage him to return the Koh-i-Noor diamond.” In stinging criticism, The New York Post Editorial Board called out Mamdani’s “rude” welcome extended to King Charles.