King Charles has helped welcome many U.S. presidents to the United Kingdom throughout the years, but as it turns out, he was almost part of an American first family himself.

During his remarks at a banquet held in honor of President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump‘s official state visit on Wednesday, Sept. 17, the King shared his affinity for the United States and opened up about how a past president had hoped to make him part of the family.

“For my part, I have always admired the ingenuity of the American people, and the principles of freedom which your great democracy has represented since its inception,” the King said. “Throughout my life, from my very first visit to the United States in 1970 and over 20 visits since that time, I have cherished the close ties between the British and American peoples.”

He added, “In fact, had the media succeeded in the 1970s in their own attempt at deepening the special relationship, I myself might have been married off within the Nixon family!”

The remark garnered a laugh from Trump, who turned to share his reaction with his seatmate for the evening, Kate Middleton.

The 1970 visit that the King referenced was actually at the request of President Richard Nixon himself, who invited the then-Prince of Wales and his sister, Princess Anne, for an official visit during his first year in office. Nixon hoped the royals’ popularity would provide a PR boost — and also that Charles would hit it off with his eldest daughter, Tricia, who was two years his senior.

In a memo to his national security adviser, Henry Kissinger, Nixon praised Charles as “the real gem” of the royal family, saying of the visit, “I think this could do an enormous amount of good for U.S-.British relations.”

For his part, Charles, then 21, sent a thank-you note back to the Nixon White House, writing, “The kindness shown to us at the White House was almost overwhelming and for that we are immensely grateful.

“Both my sister and I take back to Britain the most heart-warming evidence of what is known as the special relationship between our two countries and of the great hospitality shown to us by you and your family,” he said.

Late in life, the King would reveal more about Nixon’s desire to set him up with his daughter.

Biographer Sally Bedell Smith wrote that, while visiting with President George W. Bush and his wife, first lady Laura Bush, at the White House in the early 2000s, then-Prince Charles “joked that the Bushes had better not try to fix up their twin daughters with his sons William and Harry the way Nixon had worked to set him up with Tricia.”

Ultimately, despite an outing at a baseball game and an escort to the state dinner in July 1970, nothing came of the relationship between the future King and the first daughter. Charles, of course, went on to marry and divorce Princess Diana before reconnecting with his first love, Camilla Parker-Bowles, who became Queen Camilla when he acceded the throne in 2022.

As for Tricia, less than a year after causing a stir in photographs with the eligible British prince, she tied the knot with her longtime love, Harvard Law student Edward F. Cox, in a ceremony in the White House Rose Garden. They remain married to this day and share one son.

It’s somewhat ironic, however, that the King would have mentioned his setup with Tricia to George W. Bush, in particular.

In an interview tied to the release of his 2014 book, 41: A Portrait of My Father, the fellow nepo baby-turned-world leader revealed that he once ruined a blind date his dad, President George H. W. Bush, set up for him with the same first daughter.

“I’m sure from her perspective, it didn’t go very well,” Bush recalled of his date with Tricia. “I drove up to the White House in a purple Gremlin with Levi-jean seats.”

Despite having just completed his Air Force pilot training, he admitted, “I was a pretty heavy drinker in those days.”

“We went over to the Alibi Club, and I still remember knocking over a glass and the stain of red wine creeping across the oak table,” Bush said. “I fired up a cigarette and she said, ‘I’d rather you not smoke.’ And shortly thereafter, she said, ‘Take me home,’ and I did.”