William met Trump at the reopening of Notre Dame in Paris

The Prince of Wales has met US President-elect Donald Trump during his visit to France for the ceremonial opening of Notre Dame Cathedral.

Prince William has joined other world leaders in Paris to mark the restoration of the world-famous landmark, which was destroyed by fire five years ago.

Kensington Palace said they were due to meet the president-elect after the ceremony.

The prince is expected to discuss the importance of the US and UK’s “special relationship” during their respective meetings with both Trump and the first lady.

Greeting the prince at the event, Trump tapped William on the shoulder before the two shook hands and spoke for a few seconds.

He last met Trump in 2019 when the then president made an official visit to the UK.

Prince William, who attended at the request of the British government, joined French President Emmanuel Macron. and dozens of other heads of state at Saturday’s event.

William and Trump, who will speak elsewhere in Paris after the event, were originally scheduled to meet before the event.

The prince was also scheduled to meet outgoing First Lady Jill Biden before the event, but will now meet her at the event.

Kensington Palace said their trip from the UK to France was delayed due to weather.

The prince’s last official visit to Paris was in 2017, when he accompanied the Princess of Wales on a two-day visit in the wake of Brexit.

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

The medieval cathedral has been closed since a major fire broke out in 2019, destroying its stained glass windows and wooden interior.

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

Macron set a five-year target for rebuilding the Catholic Church shortly after the fire.

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

The rector of the cathedral said that tickets for the first week of Masses at the cathedral sold out in 25 minutes.

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

Analysis by Royal Correspondent Sean Coughlin

Prince William has been buzzed about attending this meeting with President-elect Donald Trump in Paris, just like in his old air ambulance days.

What needs to be saved at this point, though, is the improvement of the special relationship between the US and the UK.

It is an important link for both sides – and for wider military links such as Nato – but there is no clear sympathy between Starmer’s Labor government and the incoming Republicans.

So the royals, funded by taxpayers, are being deployed to pave the way, with Prince William playing the role of statesman, before attending the reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral. Will meet with Trump.

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

But there is a big contradiction in their approach. Prince William’s flagship project is his Earthshot environmental awards, while Trump has dismissed efforts to promote green energy as a “scam”.

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

A kind tree and campaign on housing and climate change aren’t exactly ‘Make America Great Again’ style.

But the hastily arranged meeting would be a royal offensive to help build bridges at an uncertain time for the Western alliance.