Theresa May presents Trump with Scottish ancestry token

Team Udayavani, Jul 14, 2018, 9:42 AM IST

London (UK): British Prime Minister Theresa May today presented US President Donald Trump with a special ancestral chart commemorating his mother’s Scottish birth.

The illustrated ancestral chart of the Scottish heritage of the US President, currently on tour in the UK, is a nod to his mother Mary Anne Macleod, who was born in 1912 on the Isle of Lewis in the Hebrides.

“President Trump is the first US president for over 100 years with a parent born in the UK. This gift underlines the deep historical links that many modern-day Americans have with the United Kingdom,” Downing Street said in a statement.

The presentation is set against the backdrop of the 19th century official UK ordnance survey map of the area, and also depicts scenes of Stornoway from later that century.

“The chart traces her family on both sides back three generations through official records and old parish registers.

“The family line goes back on the paternal side to the birth of President Trump’s great, great, great grandfather, Kenneth Macleod, born near Stornoway in 1776 the year of the US declaration of independence,” the official statement said, adding that the gift carries the crest of the Macleod clan and the Macleod tartan.

First Lady Melania Trump was presented with a bespoke perfume by J Floris Ltd with personal resonance for her, including Sakura cherry Blossom, famed in Washington DC; rose heart for the National flower of the United States and England; and Bergamot with its distinctively British scent of Earl grey tea.

“The fragrance is presented in a custom bottle engraved with the initials ‘MT’ [Melania Trump] and the scent is called The First Lady,” Downing Street said.

Established in 1730 by Juan Famenias Floris and his wife Elizabeth, Floris London is the oldest independent family perfumer in the world.

The products are believed to have been used by Florence Nightingale, Winston Churchill, Marilyn Monroe and Princess Diana.

The company is also Appointed Perfumer to Queen Elizabeth II, with whom the Trumps will share a cup of tea at Windsor Castle today evening before flying off to Scotland for the private leg of their UK tour.