Mamdani: Give the diamond back, King Charles

TT

Published 13.30

           

           

          New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Britain's King Charles III in New York on Wednesday.                    Next to Charles is his wife, Queen Camilla.
          1 / 2Photo: Jeenah Moon/AP/TT

Return the Koh-i-noor to India, New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani urges Britain's King Charles.

The Koh-i-noor – widely called the world's most famous diamond – has been part of the British crown jewels since it was acquired from India in the 19th century.

Ahead of a meeting with Britain's King Charles, who is visiting the United States, Zohran Mamdani raised the issue of the 105.6-carat stone.

– If I could talk to the king, I would probably encourage him to return the Koh-i-noor diamond, said the left-wing Democrat.

Whether he did so is unclear, however.

The Koh-i-noor has adorned the crown worn by Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother during her coronation since the 1930s. It is kept in the Tower of London.

“It will stay there,” writes Zia Yusuf, the domestic policy spokesperson for the anti-immigration Reform UK, on ​​X, accusing Mamdani of insulting the king.