Zohran Mamdani met King Charles at the 9/11 memorial in New York on Wednesday (April 29), only hours after the city’s mayor publicly floated the idea that the monarch should hand back a rare 105.6-carat diamond.
Following several days spent in Washington, D.C. alongside Donald Trump, the King made a brief stop in New York, where he visited with families affected by the September 11, 2001 attacks.
At the memorial, Charles greeted a number of public officials, including Mamdani. Photographers captured the two shaking hands and leaning in for a close exchange.
Earlier in the day, Mamdani had been speaking at a separate event when he was asked about meeting the King later on.
Although he emphasized that the memorial visit was focused on honoring those who died in the attacks, Mamdani also shared an issue he would raise if he had the chance for a private word.
“If I was to speak to the king separately from that, I would probably encourage him to return the Koh-i-Noor diamond,” Mamdani said.
Whether the subject was brought up during Mamdani’s brief conversation with Charles has not been confirmed.
The Koh-i-Noor is widely thought to have been mined in southern India in the 1200s. Many critics argue it was taken during the era of British colonial rule in the region.
The stone was given to Queen Victoria in 1849 following the Treaty of Lahore, and it has remained part of the Royal Family’s collection since then. For years, however, there have been repeated arguments that it should be returned to Asia.
India has consistently pressed for the diamond’s repatriation, though it is not the only nation to have claimed ownership of the 105.6-carat gem.
Pakistan, Iran, and Afghanistan have also, at various times, asserted that the diamond belongs to them.
The Koh-i-Noor is considered part of the Crown Jewels in the UK, though its precise location is not disclosed publicly.
In recent years, demands for its return have gained more traction, fueled in part by social media and heightened debate following Queen Elizabeth II’s death in 2022.
Danielle Kinsey, a professor of history at Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario, told NBC News back then: “To be purely pragmatic about it, at some point the monarchy will understand that keeping the diamond is more of a public relations liability for them than an asset.
“I think the same is true for many, many looted artifacts in Britain today and the institutions that house them. Also, it’s the right thing to do if the royal family is serious about making apologies for the ills of British imperialism and how they profited from it.”