Dutch Queen Maxima breaks her silence after appearing to 'mock' Donald Trump on live TV
The Dutch royal was standing right next to Trump and her husband King Willem-Alexander as they posed for pictures after the US president arrived in the European country for the NATO summit.
While making small talk, Maxima, 54, had appeared to 'mock' the way Trump's mouth moved and pulled a face before turning towards the cameras.
The split-second reaction didn't go unnoticed by eagle-eyed social media users, who wrote: 'You have to watch how Queen Maxima of the Netherlands mocks Trump's speaking right in front of him.'
Writing on X/ Twitter, CNN editor Vani Mehrotra observed: 'Did she really do that? Queen Maxima of the Netherlands is believed to be mocking Donald Trump.'
But during the royal family 's annual summer photo session on Monday, Maxima set the record straight.
Speaking to Dutch outlet AD, she clarified what actually happened, telling reporters: 'I said "thank you" to someone who had helped', adding that meeting the president had been a 'pleasant experience'.
Meanwhile her eldest daughter and heir to the throne, 21-year-old Princess Catharina-Amalia, said it was 'really cool' she had the opportunity to meet 'the president of America'.
In the clip, the trio was seen smiling for cameras as Trump, 79, gave a thumbs-up while the King appeared to stand a bit closer to the commander-in-chief than his wife.
Trump and the King made small talk and laughed a bit while Queen Maxima stayed quiet and continued to smile.
'That's the picture we want,' Trump said as the King told him: 'Well I hope you slept well!'
'It was great, the house is...' Trump replied as he smiled one last time before thanking everyone there.
As he did so, Queen Maxima appeared to mock the way his mouth moved before turning toward the cameras.
People quickly flocked to the comments after picking up on the Queen's response, as one wrote: 'I've never been a fan of our stiff monarchy, but Queen Maxima rocks it! Treat him like a baby.'
Another said: 'Queeeen Maxima! Love her!'
'The Queen keeping her distance,' wrote another user.
'Looks like she has calculated how much separation from Trump she can achieve and be in the picture,' said another.
While many people got a laugh out of the moment, others were not as happy with what the Queen appeared to do.
'How low can you stoop as the so-called queen of Dutch people who don't exist... despicable to the core...,' one wrote.
'Ooo. How creepy,' someone else commented.
'What a 'queen',' said another.
Trump joined other world leaders who are part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization for a family photo and welcome dinner ahead of a stacked day of meetings.
First lady Melania Trump did not join her husband for the trip overseas.
The red carpet was literally rolled out for Trump and other world leaders arriving in the Netherlands last Tuesday.
NATO leaders were seen toasting each other and clinking drinks at a dinner ahead of an intense day of meetings.
Queen Maxima was a 28-year-old economist when she married into the Dutch royal family in 2002.
Maxima, who was born in Buenos Aires, endeared herself to the Dutch people thanks to her warm personality.
Hello Magazine reported in 2016 that Willem-Alexander put his foot down and was so set on marrying Maxima he was ready to renounce the throne to be her husband.
Willem-Alexander became King of the Netherlands in April 2013 following the abdication of his mother Queen Beatrix.
The couple share three daughters: Princess Catharina-Amalia, 21, Princess Alexia, 20, and Princess Ariane, 18.
US President Trump appeared to have a chummy interaction with both King Willem and Queen Maxima after arriving in the Netherlands last Tuesday.
At the time, the visit followed hot on the heels of his facilitating a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Iran.
But after the ceasefire was initially struck early on Tuesday, Israel claimed Iran had violated the deal by carrying out strikes after it came into force.
Mr Trump called for Israel to withdraw its warplanes, and claimed both it and Iran 'don't know what the f*** they're doing' as he departed for the summit in the Netherlands.
Since, the U.S. leader has begun stepping up his push on the Israeli government to broker a ceasefire and hostage agreement and bring about an end to the war in Gaza.
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