Mamdani urges King Charles to return rare diamonds
Asked what he would say to King Charles if he had the chance, New York Mayor Zoran Mamdani said he would ask the king to return the rare diamonds to India.
King Charles III and Queen Camilla met briefly with New York City Mayor Zoran Mamdani on April 29, during the royal couple’s visit to the 9/11 Memorial, where they paid tribute to the victims of the 9/11 attacks and met with first responders.
The brief exchange came hours after Mamdani told reporters that if he had the chance to speak one-on-one with Prince Charles, he would privately urge the king to return Kohinoor, a historically disputed diamond owned by the British royal family, to India.
“If I were to speak to the king otherwise, I would probably recommend that he return the Koh-i-Noor diamond,” Mamdani, a Muslim born in Uganda to parents of Indian descent, said, Reuters reported.
It was not immediately clear whether Mamdani raised the issue during his brief conversation with the king at the commemoration ceremony. USA TODAY reached out to Mamdani’s office for comment, but did not immediately receive a response.
What is Koh I Noor Diamond?
The infamous 105-carat Koh-i-Noor diamond from India came into British hands through opaque means during colonial times and became the jewel in the British crown. He was last seen in public resting on a coffin at the funeral of the Empress Dowager.
India has repeatedly demanded that the royal family return the diamonds. After the East India Company annexed the Punjab region in 1849 and took the diamonds from exiled Indian leaders, the British governor-general of India arranged for the huge diamond to be presented to Queen Victoria in 1850, according to Reuters.
India, which gained independence from British rule in 1947, said the Koh-i-Noor diamond was a “valuable piece of art with deep roots in our history,” according to Reuters. The diamond was previously owned by India’s Mughal emperor, the Shah of Iran, the sheikh of Afghanistan and a Sikh maharaja, Reuters reported, citing the charity Historic Royal Palaces.
Contributors: Maria Puente, Marco della Cava, Terry Collins, Francesca Chambers, Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy, Nicole Fallert, USA TODAY. Reuters
Fernando Cervantes Jr. is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Contact us at fernando.cervantes@usatodayco.com and follow us at X @fern_cerv_.
