‘Return the Kohinoor’: NYC mayor Zohran Mamdani’s pointed message to King Charles reignites colonial-era debate during US tour

Dubai: New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani may have kept things solemn at the September 11 attacks memorial, but his off-stage remarks? Far more pointed.

According to The Independent, Mamdani said that if he ever had a private audience with King Charles III, he wouldn’t waste the moment. “If I were to speak to the king separately from that, I’d probably encourage him to return the Kohinoor diamond,” he told reporters.

The comment came as Mamdani joined other dignitaries in meeting the King and Queen Camilla during their visit to New York, part of a four-day US tour.

At the National 9/11 Memorial in lower Manhattan, King Charles laid flowers to honour the victims keeping the official tone firmly respectful and apolitical.

Mamdani, too, made it clear that the ceremony itself wasn’t the place for historical reckonings.

“The focus of that wreath-laying is to honour the more than 3,000 New Yorkers who were killed… and that is really what I’m looking to do at that event,” he said, again as quoted by The Independent.

Still, his remark has reportedly reignited the long-running debate around the Kohinoor, a jewel that has become as politically charged as it is famous.

Mined in India and later acquired under colonial rule, the diamond now sits in the Tower of London as part of the British Crown Jewels, even as India has repeatedly called for its return since 1947.

The royal family, unsurprisingly, isn’t engaging. A Palace spokesperson declined to comment on Mamdani’s remarks, The Independent reported.

The visit itself hasn’t been short on awkward headlines. Earlier, Donald Trump claimed that King Charles agreed with him on Iran’s nuclear ambitions, a statement that raised eyebrows given the royal family’s constitutional obligation to stay out of politics. Buckingham Palace later responded carefully, reiterating the King’s alignment with the UK government’s established stance on nuclear non-proliferation without endorsing any personal opinions.