Mamdani urges Charles to return Indian diamond

As King Charles continued his visit to the United States, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani injected a charged colonial-era dispute into the conversation, saying the British monarch should return the Koh-i-Noor Diamond to India.

“If I were to speak to the king separately from that, I would probably encourage him to return the Koh-i-Noor Diamond,” Mr Mamdani, who is Indian American, said when asked at a press conference just hours before a ceremony honoring victims of the September 11 attacks.

Mr Mamdani and the king later spoke at the memorial event.

Buckingham Palace declined to comment.

Mr Mamdani’s office did not respond to a request for comment on whether the mayor raised the matter directly with the king.

India has repeatedly called on Britain to hand back the 105-carat diamond.

The gem was presented to Queen Victoria in 1850 after Britain’s colonial governor-general of India oversaw the transfer, following the East India Company’s annexation of Punjab in 1849 and the seizure of the stone from a deposed Indian leader.

Charles marked the September 11 attack on New York City by laying a floral bouquet at the memorial where the twin towers of the World Trade Center once stood.

The Koh-i-Noor diamond is pictured at the front of the crown of Queen Elizabeth, the queen mother

India won independence from British rule in 1947, but Britain’s colonisation of the country and the widespread atrocities committed against Indians during that era remain deeply sensitive issues.

India has previously described the diamond as a “valued piece of art with strong roots in our nation’s history.”

For many Indians, Britain’s possession of the diamond remains a potent emblem of the abuses of colonial rule.

According to the Historic Royal Palaces charity, the diamond has at various times belonged to Mughal emperors in India, shahs of Iran, emirs of Afghanistan and Sikh maharajas.