NEW YORK CITY Mayor Zohran Mamdani called for Britain’s King Charles to “return” the prized Koh-i-Noor diamond, which the British Empire took from the Indian subcontinent in the 1800s, on the third day of the monarch’s state visit to the US.

Before greeting Charles and Camilla at a 9/11 memorial event yesterday, Mamdani was asked what he would discuss with the king if he had the chance.

His spokesperson had earlier said that there would be no private meeting between Mamdani and Charles.

“If I was to speak to the king, separately from that, I would probably encourage him to return the Koh-i-Noor diamond,” the leftist mayor said, adding that his focus would be honouring those killed in the terror attacks.

Journalist: King Charles will be in New York. What will you say to him?

Mamdani: I would highly encourage him to return the Kohinoor Diamond if I were to speak with him pic.twitter.com/J0JhQ4syqf

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It’s unclear whether Mamdani followed through and brought up the contentious subject with Charles when the two met.

The monarch was seen laughing with Mamdani and having a brief conversation after they shook hands.

King Charles shakes hands with New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani during his visit to the 9/11 Memorial in New York.https://t.co/wZGgK7RyLG

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Housed in the Tower of London, the massive 106 carat stone is the star of Britain’s crown jewels, adorning the Crown of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother.

The ownership of the jewel has been contested over the centuries, passing through the hands of Mughal emperors, Iranian shahs and Sikh maharajas before the Kingdom of Punjab gave it to Queen Victoria in 1849 as part of a peace treaty.

India has repeatedly and unsuccessfully sought the return of the priceless jewel.

While there is little doubt it was mined in India, its history thereafter is a mixture of myth and fact, with several countries including Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan also laying claim to the gem.

A politician from the anti-immigration Reform UK party was quick to slam the comments as an “insult to our King.”

“This beautiful diamond is currently on display in the Tower of London,” the party’s home affairs spokesman Zia Yusuf said in an X post. “That is where it will stay.”

Mamdani’s father, Mahmood, is an academic whose work is focused on colonialism and post-colonialism.

Mamdani meanwhile last month praised Ireland for its resistance to British rule.

In remarks on St Patrick’s Day, Mamdani name-checked James Connolly, Pádraig Pearse and Roger Casement and added: “Irish solidarity is no coincidence, as it was on Irish soil that the British Empire developed their colonial project.

“So much of the exploitation later imposed elsewhere across the world was honed first in the plantations in Ireland.”

He added that the “story of Ireland is not merely one of violent oppression or of attempted domination” but that “it is one of resistance too”.

“I think of leaders like James Connolly and Patrick Pearse, who roused hundreds of thousands with demands of political freedom and economic self-determination,” said Mamdani.

“I think of those who endured unimaginable hardship during the Troubles. The 10 prisoners who died after going on hunger strike to protest the British government’s refusal to deem them political prisoners.”

- © AFP 2026 and with additional reporting from Diarmuid Pepper