King Charles III briefly met New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Wednesday at the 9/11 memorial as part of the royal’s four-day trip to the United States. 

Mamdani reportedly greeted the monarch and Queen Camilla with a smile as he shook their hands but he did not have a private meeting with the couple or hold a glitzy event to welcome them as mayors have done for royal trips in the past. 

The greeting comes just hours after Mamdani claimed he would urge the royals to return the Koh-i-Noor diamond to India. The diamond is part of the British crown jewels and has been worn by British queens in the past. 

“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 at a press conference ahead of the memorial.

It was not clear if the mayor actually asked the monarch to return the diamond to India, but the jewel is seen by critics as a sign of British colonialism, according to NBC News.

The jewel’s precise origin is not known but experts have dated its discovery to the 13th century in South India. However, Pakistan has also raised a claim to the diamond.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.