The royal family has long maintained a disposition of studied dullness, which made the speech delivered on Tuesday, only the second of its kind after Queen Elizabeth II’s in 1991, fairly remarkable.
The old king had jokes. “When I address my own Parliament at Westminster, we still follow an age-old tradition and take a member of parliament hostage, holding him or her at Buckingham Palace until the monarch is safely returned,” he said, to laughter in the room. “I don’t know, Mr. Speaker, if there are any volunteers for that position today.”
When Charles declared that “vibrant, diverse, and free societies” are what “gives us our collective strength,” Democrats gave another standing ovation, followed by the Republicans. When he said next that “the Christian faith is a firm anchor and daily inspiration that guides us not only personally, but together as members of our community,” the Republicans were back on their feet, with Democrats following soon after.
When the king called on us to “reflect on our shared responsibility to safeguard nature, our most precious and irreplaceable asset” during an extensive section on the environment, a tentpole issue for Charles, Democrats leapt to their feet. Many Republicans, including Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lee Zeldin, remained seated. Not everything sparked comity among political rivals and their foreign guest.
Charles is in town on some very important business. The alliance between the United States and the United Kingdom is more strained than it has been in decades, perhaps since the Brits burned down the White House, and Downing Street is hoping the king can charm Trump into cooperation. At the top of his speech, Charles alluded (maybe) to the current tempest between Washington and Westminster: “With the spirit of 1776 in our minds, we can perhaps agree that we do not always agree,” he said. “Ours is a partnership born out of dispute, but no less strong for it.”
The task at hand is daunting, even for a king. Trump has spent the last year taking a sledgehammer to the so-called Special Relationship. He has regularly insulted Prime Minister Keir Starmer and London Mayor Sadiq Khan. After Britain declined to join his war in Iran, Trump ratcheted up the attacks, oscillating between insisting the United States did not need the help of its allies and complaining that so few had come to its aid. Even before the war, Trump was on a tear against Europe and NATO, threatening to invade Greenland while levying extraordinary tariffs on the continent’s goods.
