On January 20, British media shared with readers an anecdote about the young age of Britain's new king, Charles III. When Charles, once a young and handsome young man, visited the United States for the first time as a crown prince, he was favored by Richard Nixon, who urged him to make the trip and was then the president of the United States, who wanted to match the British boy and his daughter, and marry Tricia Nixon to Charles Philip Arthur George Mountbatten-Windsor. It is a pity that this good story of Anglo-American marriage was rejected by the parties and did not become a reality.
If Charles had married the daughter of the President of the United States, with the supremacy of American interests, the current queen of Britain would have been named Trisia, not Camilla.
King Charles III visited the United States several times during his lifetime and met with 10 of the past 14 presidents, including Ronald Reagan, Barack Obama and Donald Trump.
Although he later traveled with his original Princess Diana and later with his stepwife Camilla, Charles' first trip to the United States was in 1970.
At the invitation of President Richard Nixon, then President of the United States, Charles, who was only 22 years old at the time, and his sister Princess Anne flew across the Atlantic for the first time to visit the United States. Two and a half young men crossed the Atlantic and were warmly welcomed by the crowd.
But then it seemed that the old man who issued the warm invitation and ruled the United States seemed to have ulterior motives.
Based on the now-declassified letters and interviews with people who were involved in organizing the visit to Prince Anne, the president had something else on his mind — involving bridging his daughter Tricia with the best candidate from England.
The president, who has received the crown prince and princess of the United Kingdom, is particularly interested in the love life of the heir to the throne.
Biographer Sally Biddle Smith wrote that Nixon wanted to play the role of matchmaker between Charles and his daughter.
According to the historical trend, Nixon's calculation was obviously rejected by the parties with embarrassment and dignity.
More than thirty years later, Charles remembers it.
Around 2005, Charles took his new wife, Camilla, to visit the United States again.
When he was a guest at the White House, he laughed and joked with the then owners of the Bush family, George and Laura Bush.
As we all know, the Bushes have a pair of twin beloved daughters Jenna and Barbara.
The two girls, one like a father and the other like a mother, are about the same age as the British prince.
Charles grinned and said that the Bushes had better not think about finding twins for his two older sons, William and Harry, just as Nixon tried to keep him with Tricia.
You are the crown prince, you have the final say.
In 2021, this matter has not yet turned the page in Charles's heart.
In an interview, Charles recounted his first trip to Washington and the social events organized by his American host.
"I thought it was funny," he told CNN, "that they wanted me to marry Tricia Nixon. ”
Maybe you can marry her and succeed to the throne a few years earlier.
Nixon himself vigorously promoted the Prince of Wales' visit to the United States, nominally to strengthen public relations.
This was stated in a January 1970 memorandum to Henry Kissinger, then the U.S. National Security Adviser.
It reads: "I think this (the visit of the heir to the British throne to the United States?". Anglo-American marriage? Can bring huge benefits to US-UK relations. Charles is 'the true treasure of the royal family' and makes a very good impression wherever he goes. ”
The image of the young crown prince at that time should be very good.
The "royal baby" returned the praise of the US side in a letter of thanks.
He (and possibly staffed) wrote: "The goodwill shown to us by the White House is unparalleled, and for that we are very grateful."
My sister and I have both brought heartwarming evidence back to the UK of the special relationship between our two countries and the hospitality you and your family have shown us. ”
In Nixon's view, wanting to be a matchmaker for his daughter and the crown prince was not particularly obtrusive.
He met with Queen Elizabeth II, the Crown Prince's mother, before becoming president.
In 1957, he also took the Queen and Prince Philip to visit the White House.
The memoirs, written by the Nixon family's youngest daughter, Julie, on behalf of her mother, Pat, also revealed interesting stories about her father's experience.
Nixon, who was still going to attend the dinner at the time, thought that the dinner party was a very normal attire, but when he came to attend, he learned that the queen had specifically asked for it, not so formal.
Had to borrow a suit in "despair" because he forgot to bring a black tie.
Americans in London frantically searched for costumes to attend, and finally had to convince a certain Scotland Yard detective Mr. to stay upstairs and eat alone, stripping Mr. Detective's clothes off and putting them on himself.
However, Julie wrote that the night was "crazy for my parents." ”
Because the suit "has too short sleeves and looks as if it was borrowed from a British leasing agency".
Nixon explained his predicament to the Queen, telling her, "I'm afraid it's not my suit." ”
But the Queen was clearly humorous and laughed at the situation.
Perhaps this made Nixon interested in being a family member of the Queen.