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.
The New York Post Editorial Board called out Mamdani's 'rude' welcome extended to King Charles, saying he 'couldn't manage a decent welcome for the king of England: That would've required maturity, grace and humility that our mayor just doesn't have.'
The editorial also cited previous occasions when members of the British Royal Family were warmly welcomed by NYC mayors, including a 'ticker-tape parade' organised in honour of Queen Elizabeth's arrival in the city in 1957 by then Mayor Robert Wagner.
Mamdani's comment about the Koh-i-Noor diamond was also criticized, with the New York Post saying that the king's wish to honour the victims of the 9/11 terror attack 'was not an opportunity for a freshman barb on colonialism, and to imply that this crown jewel belongs to India.'
King Charles and Queen Camilla visited the 9/11 Memorial in the city and paid their respects to the victims of the terror attack. They also visited Harlem Grown, a network of urban farms supporting children and families in Upper Manhattan.
