July 18, 2018

Queen Elizabeth Wore the Brooch the Obamas Gifted Her for Trump’s Visit

Coincidence? I think not.

Andrea Hanks/ZUMA

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.

Was Queen Elizabeth hoping to reveal her preference for a certain American president during President Donald Trump’s visit to the United Kingdom last week? If the jury were to rely on social media, the answer would be a resounding yes.

Thanks to expert observers of the royal family’s wardrobe and accessories, speculation currently abounds over whether the queen intentionally chose to wear a brooch that was given to her by the Obamas during their state visit back in 2011 in order to quietly knock her guest of honor during his recent visit to Great Britain. This was before his apparent difficulties in walking properly with the queen, which also sparked a media frenzy. 

On the second day of Trump’s visit, the same expert eyes noticed the queen wearing another brooch gifted to her by Canada, a country whose leader Trump has criticized and whose trade relationship with the United States he has repeatedly attacked. The potential significance of the brooches comes amid rumors Princes Charles and William went out of their way to avoid meeting the American president. 

While it’s highly unlikely the world will receive any official confirmation of the back-story behind the brooches, if true, the queen’s display would have certainly bested any effort by Melania Trump in her own sartorial choices to send sharp, political messages.

WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

payment methods

WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate