A Fox News personality’s poorly-timed remark about gun violence led to rapid action by royal staff during a White House state dinner celebrating King Charles III and Queen Camilla on April 28, 2026, transforming what was intended to be a diplomatic reconciliation into an awkward moment that went viral.
Jesse Watters revealed the mortifying incident on the April 29 episode of “The Five,” recounting how he was physically escorted away from the queen’s vicinity following a quip about Washington crime during formal introductions on April 28. The black-tie event, arranged by President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump, represented the second phase of a four-day state visit intended to repair fractured ties between Washington and London.
In their fleeting conversation in the receiving line, Watters inquired about the 78-year-old queen’s tour of the White House South Lawn, where administrators had recently placed a beehive fashioned to look like the executive residence. She remarked that the experience was delightful — “It was very good. No one got stung.”
The Remark That Overstepped
“Well, you know, it was Washington, D.C., you know, if the bees don’t get you, the guns will,” Watters said he conveyed to the queen.
“And then this woman just starts pulling me away from them,” Watters recounted to his astonished colleagues. “I don’t know what I was saying. Ugh. I started mumbling.”
Dana Perino, also on the panel, expressed visible surprise — “You said that? To the queen?!” — while Fox presenter Greg Gutfeld, who attended the dinner as well, dismissed it as “typical Jesse.” Harold Ford Jr. and Emily Compagno had initiated the segment by praising the Fox attendees for their formal wear.
Merely seventy-two hours before the dinner, an armed individual had breached a security entrance at the Washington Hilton throughout the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, purportedly aiming to harm Trump and Cabinet members. Firearms remain a divisive matter in the capital, where Trump assumed authority of municipal law enforcement in August 2025 and deployed National Guard personnel, labeling it “liberation day in D.C.” The Metropolitan Police Department noted that firearms-related incidents in the District dropped to a four-decade low in 2024.
An Icy Greeting From The Monarch
Watters’ complications had commenced even before he approached the receiving line. He shared on broadcast that he and his spouse, Emma, were held at the entrance following an error in completing her date of birth on admission paperwork. A security officer mentioned that “every member of Fox made mistakes on their forms.” Fellow correspondent Bret Baier later admitted he had similarly miscalculated his wife’s birth date, while Gutfeld confessed to misspelling his wife Elena Moussa’s name.
Upon entry, Watters’ meeting with the 77-year-old King Charles proved equally unsuccessful. The king did not identify him. After Watters clarified his profession — “I’m on Fox and I have two shows” — Charles offered a distinctly British reply: “Well, they must really love you here.”
Gutfeld recounted a comparably reserved meeting with the monarch. Trump had introduced him by touting he had “the No. 1 show on late night,” which prompted Charles to ask which network carried the program. Upon hearing Fox, the king simply answered, “I see. It’s on Fox. Very good.” Gutfeld then quipped that he “took off with Camilla. Yeah, just to horse around” — a comment Watters believed would eliminate any chance of a return visit.
A Journey Rich In Meaning
Charles’ journey constituted his inaugural trip to America in his role as sovereign and the inaugural state visit by a British monarch since 2007. Coordinated with the bicentennial of U.S. independence, the expedition was broadly viewed as an initiative to restore the “special relationship” following numerous disagreements between the Trump administration and London concerning the Iran dispute.
Charles delivered remarks to a joint congressional session on April 28, receiving substantial commendation. Subsequently, at the state dinner, the monarch elicited chuckles with a pointed comment regarding Trump’s contentious East Wing ballroom renovation. “I cannot help noticing the readjustments to the East Wing, Mr. President,” Charles remarked, subsequently noting that the British had “made our own small attempt at real estate development of the White House in 1814” — alluding to when British military forces destroyed the structure.
Trump positioned himself alongside the king prior to the evening’s formal meal and informed media he felt “very jealous” of the reception his speech received in Congress, recognizing that Charles had “made a great speech.”
Throughout the dinner, Charles presented Trump with the bell from a Second World War-era British submarine designated HMS Trump, describing it as his “personal gift” and remarking that it should represent the historical bond between the two countries. The object displayed the president’s name and 1944, when the submarine departed a British shipbuilding facility.
The enhanced White House beehive structures, incorporating the mansion-shaped design, corresponded with the Windsor family’s enduring beekeeping custom and furnished Queen Camilla with an understated photographic chance on the opening phase of the visit — a narrative the Watters episode momentarily overshadowed.
The royal schedule expanded outward from Washington to encompass stops in New York and Virginia. A reception at the British ambassador’s property on the evening of April 27 commenced the formal events, and the pair left on the afternoon of April 30, concluding a final day in Virginia’s Shenandoah region.
Watters accepted the embarrassment on digital platforms, composing on X: “I ALMOST got THROWN OUT of the Royal State Dinner.” Gutfeld contributed his own commentary on “The Five,” indicating the occasion might not recur. “It was my first state dinner. It might be my last,” he stated. “They’re still investigating the incident in the men’s room.”