The British monarch’s trip is intended in part to repair strained U.S.-British ties. President Trump will host him and Queen Camilla for a state dinner at the White House.
Here’s the latest.
King Charles III on Tuesday delivered an optimistic assessment of American-British relations at what is arguably their lowest point in decades, telling a joint meeting of Congress that the two countries had always found a way to come together.
“The very principle on which your Congress was founded — no taxation without representation — was at once a fundamental disagreement between us, and at the same time a shared democratic value which you inherited from us,” the king said. “Ours is a partnership born out of dispute.”
The state dinner honoring Charles and Camilla is set to begin shortly. Melania Trump, the first lady, is wearing a custom-made strapless delphinium pink Dior gown (along with white opera gloves), a nice moment of parallelism to the light pink Dior coatdress the queen wore at her arrival in the United States on Monday. Delphiniums are famously one of Charles’s favorite flowers.
The special relationship is alive and well when it comes to wardrobe planning, at least.
Beneath King Charles’s jokes and decorum lay a subtle rebuttal to Trump.
King Charles III quoted Oscar Wilde, joking that the British have everything in common with America “except, of course, language.” President Trump said the morning’s gloomy rain reminded him of a “beautiful British day” and noted that his mother thought young Prince Charles was “so cute.” Both men waxed poetic about the bonds between their countries.
And yet, on the first full day of a state visit focused on the shared history between the United States and Britain, the king sprinkled in some ever-so-subtle rebuttals to Mr. Trump. He spoke on Tuesday of the value of the trans-Atlantic alliance, environmentalism and even his time in the Royal Navy, which Mr. Trump has belittled in recent weeks.
King Charles III worked the House chamber like a stand-up comedian in a joint meeting of Congress in Washington on Tuesday, cracking jokes and winning over his audience in a strained time in American-British relations.
The king’s speech received standing ovations and laughter across both sides of the aisle as he wielded his British humor like the most genial of scepters.
The British public have taken a dim view of the king’s visit.
The state visit by King Charles III has been months in the making, but the British public’s view of the trip soured as it drew closer and the relationship between the longtime allies grew more strained.
After weeks of President Trump aiming disparaging remarks at Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his government over their position on the war with Iran, opinion polls have shown that in Britain, where Mr. Trump is deeply unpopular, more people oppose the king’s visit than favor it. Some politicians even called for the trip to be scrapped before the king and Queen Camilla arrived in Washington on Monday.
New York Times
