Prince William to meet Trump ahead of Notre-Dame reopening

The Prince of Wales will meet US President-elect Donald Trump while visiting France for the ceremonial reopening of Notre-Dame cathedral.

Prince William will join other world leaders in Paris to mark the restoration of the world-famous landmark, which was devastated by a fire five years ago.

He will hold meetings with the president-elect and US First Lady Jill Biden, Kensington Palace said.

It is expected that the prince will discuss the importance of the US-UK “special relationship” with both Trump and the first lady during their respective meetings.

He last met Trump in 2019 when the then-president made a state visit to the UK.

Prince William, who is attending at the request of the UK government, will join French President Emmanuel Macron and dozens of other heads of state at the ceremony.

The prince’s last official trip to Paris was in 2017, when he visited with the Princess of Wales for a two-day trip in the aftermath of the Brexit result.

He joined other world leaders in Normandy earlier this year for the 80th anniversary commemorations of the Second World War D-Day landings.

The medieval cathedral has been closed since a major fire tore through it in 2019, destroying its stained-glass windows and wooden interiors before toppling its spire.

Some 600 firefighters battled the blaze for 15 hours. The main structure of the 850-year-old building was saved, including its two bell towers.

Macron set a five-year goal for the reconstruction of the Catholic church shortly after the fire.

An estimated 2,000 masons, carpenters, restorers, roofers, foundry-workers, art experts, sculptors and engineers worked on the project, which reportedly cost €700m (£582m).

Tickets for the first week of Masses in the cathedral sold out in 25 minutes, the cathedral’s rector said.

Archbishop Laurent Ulrich will lead more than 1,500 guests through the reopening service on Saturday.

Analysis by Sean Coughlan, royal correspondent

Prince William has been scrambled, like in his old air ambulance days, to rush to this meeting in Paris with President-elect Donald Trump.

Although what’s in need of rescue on this occasion is the well-being of the special relationship between the US and the UK.

It’s an important connection for both sides – and for wider military links such as Nato – but there’s not a lot of obvious empathy between Starmer’s Labour government and the incoming Republicans.

So the royals, who are funded by taxpayers, are being deployed to smooth the path, with Prince William taking on the statesman role, meeting Trump before attending the reopening of the Notre Dame cathedral.

Trump is a royal fan, so that might make for a more positive connection. Prince William last met Trump in 2019, during the then-president’s visit to the UK, where Trump spoke very enthusiastically about his meeting with the late Queen Elizabeth II.

But there’s a massive contrast in their styles. Prince William’s flagship project is his Earthshot environmental awards, while Trump has dismissed efforts to boost green energy as a “scam”.

This week Prince William went to serve dinner at the Passage homelessness charity and on Friday night he was helping with a “kindness tree” outside Westminster Abbey.

A kindness tree and campaigning on housing and climate-change aren’t exactly the ‘Make America Great Again’ style.

But the aim of this hurriedly-arranged meeting will be for a royal charm offensive to help build bridges at an uncertain time for western alliances.