Content Advisory: This article discusses gun violence and an alleged threat involving a political event. Reader discretion is advised.
Fox News host Jesse Watters says he had to be pulled away from Queen Camilla after making a gun violence joke during King Charles and Camilla’s visit to Washington, D.C.
The awkward moment happened before a state dinner at the White House, where Watters was among the guests introduced to the royal couple. Charles and Camilla were in the U.S. as part of a diplomatic visit aimed at easing recent tensions between Washington and London.
Watters later explained the exchange on ‘The Five,’ and even he seemed to know the joke had gone badly.
Jesse Watters Says He Was Pulled Away From Camilla
Watters said he first met King Charles during the formal introductions. “We do the walkthrough where you do the introduction and then… The king had no idea who I was,” Watters said. “And so I said, ‘I’m on Fox and I have two shows.’ And he goes, ‘Well, they must really love you here.’”
Then Watters reached Camilla. “And so we go down, and there’s the queen, and I said, ‘Well, how was the beehive?’ And she goes, ‘It was very good. No one got stung.’”
That was when the exchange took a rough turn. “And then I said, ‘Well, you know, it was Washington D.C., you know, if the bees don’t get you, the guns will.’”
Watters said someone quickly stepped in. “And then this woman just starts pulling me away from them,” he said. “I don’t know what I was saying. Ugh. I started mumbling.”
The Joke Came During A Sensitive D.C. Visit
The timing made the comment even more uncomfortable.
Charles’s D.C. visit included a speech on Capitol Hill, a tour of the expanded White House beehives, and a garden party at the British ambassador’s residence. The royal stop was framed as a charm offensive to support the “special relationship” between the U.S. and the U.K.
Gun violence in Washington, D.C., has also been a major political talking point. According to the draft, the Metropolitan Police Department said gun violence in the district reached a 30-year low in 2024.
President Donald Trump, however, had called the capital “lawless” and moved last August to take control of the police force and send in the National Guard. At the time, Trump described it as “a historic action to rescue our nation’s capital from crime, bloodshed, bedlam, and squalor and worse.”
He added, “This is liberation day in D.C., and we’re going to take our capital back.”
Greg Gutfeld Also Shared His Royal Dinner Moment
Watters was not the only Fox News figure at the royal dinner.
Greg Gutfeld also attended and discussed meeting King Charles on Wednesday night’s panel. He said he had predicted how Trump would introduce him to the king.
Trump, according to Gutfeld’s retelling, said, “Ah, there he is. He’s got the No. 1 show late.” Gutfeld said Charles responded, “Oh, do you? Where is this late show that you talk about?” Gutfeld replied, “It’s on Fox.”
The Fox host then made his own joke about Camilla, saying he did not have much time with the king before adding, “and then I took off with Camilla. Yeah, just to horse around.”
Between Watters’ gun comment and Gutfeld’s Camilla joke, the Fox guests brought a very American cable-news energy to a royal evening that was supposed to be all manners, protocol, and diplomatic charm.
