US President who tried to set his daughter up with King Charles - and his response

President Richard Nixon invited King Charles and Princess Anne to visit the United States for the first time in 1970. However, it seems that Nixon had another reason for the trip.

During his lifetime, King Charles III has been to the United States many times. He has met 10 of the last 14 Presidents, including Ronald Reagan, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump.

Later, he came back to the U.S. on his own and with Princess Diana and the Queen Consort. But his first trip to the U.S. was with Princess Anne in 1970, when President Richard Nixon asked him to come.

The two oldest children of the late Queen went across the pond, where they were warmly welcomed by the crowds.

Letters and interviews with people who helped plan Prince Charles and Princess Anne's visit show that President Nixon had a hidden goal that involved his daughter Tricia.

Biographer Sally Bedell Smith wrote that Nixon tried to set up a date between Charles and his daughter. This shows how interested the President was in Charles' love life.



"When Charles and his new wife Camilla went to see George W. and Laura Bush at the White House more than 30 years later, he joked that they shouldn't try to set up their twin daughters with his sons William and Harry the way Nixon had done with him and Tricia," she wrote.



In an interview in 2021, Charles talked about that trip to Washington and the social events that were planned. "I have to say, that was pretty funny," he told CNN.



"They were trying to set me up with Tricia Nixon at the time."



In a memo sent to Henry Kissinger in January 1970, Nixon said that he had pushed for the then-Prince of Wales to visit the US because he thought it would be good for public relations.

It said, "I think this could do a huge amount of good for US-British relations." It also said that Charles is "the real gem" of the Royal Family and "makes a hugely positive impression wherever he goes."

In a thank-you note, the 21-year-old Prince said, "The kindness shown to us at the White House was almost overwhelming, and we are very grateful for that."

"Both my sister and I will take back to Britain the most heartwarming proof of what is known as the special relationship between our two countries and of the great hospitality you and your family showed us."

Before he became president, Nixon met the Queen. In 1957, he took her and Prince Philip on a tour of the White House. Their younger daughter, Julie Nixon, wrote the memoir of former First Lady Pat Nixon. In it, she talked about an awkward moment from the meeting.

The book told how the Vice President at the time had to "desperately" borrow a suit because he had forgotten to bring his black tie.

The couple's daughter said that the night started out "crazy" for her parents.

She wrote, "My dad thought the dinner would require a suit and tie. But when he got to London, he found out that the Queen had asked for less formal clothes. He needed to find a dinner jacket quickly."

Nixon talked a Scotland Yard detective into giving him his clothes so that he could eat alone upstairs.

Nixon told the Queen what was going on and said, "I'm afraid this isn't my suit." Julie said that the suit's arms were too short and that it looked like it came from a local rental shop. She also said that the Queen laughed a lot at the situation.

Credit: Mirror