While the tone and words of the speech were Charles’s own, a team of aides was instrumental in helping him craft it, including Sir Clive Alderton, a highly skilled and experienced diplomat who has served as Private Secretary to the King and Queen since 2022. Described by one palace insider as a “team effort,” Charles was also assisted by deputy private secretary Theo Rycroft, who advises Charles on official programs, and Buckingham Palace’s director of communications, Tobyn Andreae.
The London-based team has worked “hand in glove” with the Foreign Office and the British embassy in Washington alongside Sir Christian Turner, the British Ambassador to the United States, and former Palace employee James Roscoe.
“The words and sentiments were the King’s, but it is a team effort,” a source told Vanity Fair. “The King has aides who help with his speech writing and he values their input and advice. It was important to get certain messages across and getting the sensitivity correct was key. There was a lot of to-ing and fro-ing between his various aides getting the balance right between the King’s views and what the Government wanted communicated.”
King Charles and Queen Camilla’s four-day state visit is at the request of the Foreign Office to commemorate America’s 250th anniversary of Independence and has been months in the making.
Tuesday’s Congressional address was always intended to be the highlight of the tour. Buckingham Palace said that His Majesty “was deeply honored to have been invited to be the first British King to give such an address and was greatly touched by the warmth and generosity of the response he received.”
It had been predicted – but not guaranteed – that the King would reference several issues, from the wars in Iran and Ukraine, to NATO – all of which he covered.
King Charles also pushed back on Trump’s criticism of Britain’s involvement in Afghanistan and said that Britain had always supported America in times of crisis. The King received a positive reaction from members of Congress, and accomplished another rarity by prompting President Trump to admit he was “jealous” of King Charles’s speech.
