During his visit to the US his rhetoric is expected to focus on a recreation of some of his infamous diatribes against UK institutions. If the American President had said of British Prime Minister Keir Starmer that “he is not Churchill”, then in a sense the mission of the British monarch will be to confirm the timeless value of the special relationship, for which Winston Churchill had worked so intensively in the midst of a world war.
Power games and the ghost of the Falklands
Similarly, if Trump had called the weapons of the British Navy “toys”, Charles is expected to defend the value of the British Navy in which he himself proudly served. As a symptom of the crisis, a memo allegedly prepared by the Pentagon hints at a possible non-support of the Trump administration in the case of British sovereignty over the Falkland Islands. Of course: If the war of words is the work of politicians, the mission of the British monarch is a charm offensive.
The ideological basis of the special relationship is the democratic, legal and social traditions that shape common Anglo-Saxon values at the cutting edge of Western civilization, with their foundations going back to the Enlightenment, but also to the Magna Carta. Charles, however, also represents the British people, expressing in his name the wishes for the anniversary of 250 years of American independence precisely from a British monarch, such as himself.
From Donald Trump’s side there is a sense that he is trying to differentiate the British monarch from the prime minister. Charles can capitalize on this view, without, however, yielding to certain red lines of institutionality. It is expected that the discussions will address not only the role of NATO, but also AUKUS, the tripartite security partnership between Australia, the UK and the US, which has an important role in the geopolitical architecture of the Pacific and Indian oceans; it is also Australia’s sovereign within the Commonwealth.
Camilla, Dior and Elizabeth’s shadow
At her first appearance in Washington on Monday, April 27, Queen Camilla wore a Dior creation and a Cartier pin with the flags of the United Kingdom and the United States. This is the same emblem that Queen Elizabeth wore in 1957 to her important meeting with President Dwight Eisenhower. Many have drawn the parallel: In 1957, Queen Elizabeth was tasked with repairing US-British relations following Eisenhower’s intervention against British Prime Minister Anthony Eden in the Suez Crisis.
The British intervention had been seen as adventurist and the American condemnation of it as a simultaneous westing of the old colonial empire and a consolidation of the rising US hegemony over the “free world”. Conversely, in 2026, when the stake is the Straits of Hormuz, the British side is promoting the value of prudence, at a time when the transactional, but now also military, of the same American hegemony. The British monarch once again has the role of easing tensions and healing wounds, always with the importance and majesty of the monarchical institution.
The royal couple moved into ‘Blair House’ and Queen Camilla changed into an embroidered chiffon dress by Anna Valentine. After the customary photos of the two couples, Donald Trump pointed to a tree planted at the White House by Queen Elizabeth in 1991, during her visit to George W. Bush. It was the time of the Allied victory in the First Gulf War, the beginning of the unipolar moment of American hegemony, and Queen Elizabeth had extolled in her speech to Congress the values on which this hegemony was to be founded, like a tree watered by popular consent and cultural soft power. This was followed by a private tea reception in the ‘Green Room’.
Tea, bees and Epstein’s “forbidden” subject
Ecology had its due on the first day, as the royal couple is known for its related initiatives. The presidential couple took Charles and Camilla on a tour of the presidential beehives. The hives form a miniature of the White House. A reception followed in the garden of the British ambassador’s residence, where the Queen had the opportunity to meet representatives of organizations fighting domestic violence. The demonstration of this sensitivity, according to many commentators, makes up for the fact that the royal couple, in order, according to an official statement, not to be considered to be involved in the police and judicial investigation. It is recalled that the younger brother of Charles Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor is involved in the matter with accusations.
The royal couple were presented with a capsule commemorating the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution. The royal couple deposited inside it a special coin, which was created by the royal mint especially for the occasion. The capsule in question, which corresponds to a similar one in Trafalgar Square, will be placed under the George Washington monument and will be opened on the 500th anniversary of American independence. Obviously, the ambition of maintaining the US-UK special relationship is extremely far-fetched.
