https://arab.news/2qpwg
To address the simmering tensions in the US-UK relationship in recent months, Britain deployed its weapon of last resort. King Charles and Queen Camilla were hastily dispatched across the Atlantic in what was Charles’ first state visit as monarch. This was also the first to the US since his mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II, went in 2007.
This is the semiquincentennial year of the US. When America declared its independence from Britain 250 years ago, it was a result of King George III’s intemperate decisions and ill-considered actions. His five-time great-grandson, however, is of a different disposition. King Charles is a man who was, in years of public service, often in the shadow of his mother.
The British government put the monarch into the most sensitive of diplomatic firestorms. President Donald Trump has been publicly angered at the position of Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his government over Iran, the UK’s refusal to join the US airstrikes and only allowing American bases on British soil to be used for defensive purposes.
An unfortunate leak summed up the dilemma. A recording surfaced of the new UK ambassador to Washington claiming that the only country that has a “special relationship” with the US is “probably Israel.” At a military and security level, this is probably correct, but nobody needed this truism out in the open.
Critics were anxious about the king engaging with a president who is far from popular in the UK and is blamed for the economic effects of the war on Iran. Trump’s unpredictability added to the nerves.
The cabal of speechwriters served up two five-star scripts that King Charles delivered to perfection
Chris Doyle
King Charles’ speech to Congress and address at a White House banquet were the highlights of the visit, upon which much was riding. Imagine the challenge of such high-profile orations. The content and tone had to be pitch perfect, including praise but never too much. It was just the second time a British monarch had addressed Congress. Queen Elizabeth II did so in 1991. The recipe was extremely delicate. Varying audiences needed to be assuaged, from Trump to traditional Republicans, “Make America Great Again” Republicans, Democrats and audiences back home.
Well, the cabal of speechwriters served up two five-star scripts that the king delivered to perfection. The White House dinner speech, in particular, was a magnificent example of diplomatic humor, executed in the right fashion. King Charles quipped that he could not “help noticing the ‘readjustments’ to the East Wing, Mr. President, following your visit to Windsor Castle last year. I am sorry to say that we British, of course, made our own attempt at real estate redevelopment of the White House in 1814.” One assumes a laughing Trump knew that the Brits burned down both the White House and the Capitol in August of that year. The message was clear. This relationship started in acrimony but survived and thrived, and it will survive the current disturbance.
To show he was no sycophant, Charles slipped in references to the issues of strain, with references to NATO, Ukraine and environmental protection. To Congress, he cited the Magna Carta, noting that it contained “the foundation of the principle that executive power is subject to checks and balances,” a nod and a wink to those who are concerned that executive overreach in the US has gone too far.
One outcome was Trump announcing that all tariffs and restrictions on whisky imports would be removed
Chris Doyle
He mentioned both President John F. Kennedy and Henry Kissinger in highlighting an “Atlantic partnership based on twin pillars: Europe and America. That partnership, I believe Mr. Speaker, is more important today than it has ever been.” This was a rebuke to those in the US administration who have denigrated Europe’s role in the world.
One outcome was Trump announcing that all tariffs and restrictions on whisky imports, previously at 10 percent, would be removed in honor of the king and queen. He said their visit “got me to do something that nobody else was able to do, without hardly even asking.”
The royal family will also take heart from some positive coverage after a tough time handling the fallout from Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s relationship with disgraced former financier Jeffrey Epstein. For King Charles, this served as a welcome boost to his own prestige.
Downing Street will hope the positive atmosphere transfers to the harder political plane. It might, to an extent, but as much as the “two kings,” as Trump described them, may have bonded, this does not remove the tensions between Trump and Starmer. The visit may have just taken the edge off.
The president seemed thrilled. He loves pageantry and prefers to appear with kings and queens over mere prime ministers. He enthused: “He’s a great king. The greatest king in my book.” He was also fine with the content of the speeches: “He made a fantastic speech. I was very jealous.”
What was once seen as a special relationship has rarely existed between the political leaderships. It is also deeper, at the economic, social and cultural levels, and here it remains strong, buttressed by more than $430 billion in annual trade. It will endure, but the bumps may just be a little rougher.
- Chris Doyle is director of the Council for Arab-British Understanding in London. X: @Doylech