Donald Trump says Prince William ‘looks better in person’

“And I asked him about his wife and he said she’s doing well,” the president-elect said.

“I asked him about his father and his father is fighting very hard, and he loves his father and he loves his wife, so it was sad.”

The reference to the King “fighting hard” was described by royal sources as being about his efforts to continue living actively, rather than a health update.

The King has been receiving cancer treatment, but has wanted to keep focusing on his work, with overseas trips expected for next year.

“We had a great talk for half an hour, a little more than half an hour. We had a great, great talk,” Trump said.

Kensington Palace did not comment on the account of the conversation.

Prince William and Trump held their meeting, arranged at short notice, alongside the international gathering that marked the re-opening of Notre-Dame, the Paris cathedral damaged in a fire five years ago.

UK and US leaders have continued to speak warmly of the “special relationship” between the two countries.

Prince William’s diplomatic trip to meet Trump may help build bridges between the incoming Republican administration and the UK government.

Trump is an avowed fan of the royals. After a meeting with the late Queen Elizabeth II, he described how he unsuccessfully tried to get her to reveal who was her favourite US president or UK prime minister.

“I liked them all,” Trump said the late Queen had insisted to him, although he added: “Many people have said I was her favourite president.”

The NY Post’s account of the interview also includes Trump’s comments about what he said to President Emmanuel Macron of France, who had hosted the event at the restored cathedral.

“He’s a good man, he did a good job. I told him: ‘You have no idea how good a job you did’ on that chapel. That’s very hard to do. Painstaking’.”