If Britain made the slightest bit of sense, we would not be sending King Charles to the US. There wouldn’t even be a conversation about it. It would simply be assumed that it is completely unsuitable for him to be sent to a country that is actively trying to undermine Britain. But this country does not make sense, so he is going.

The argument for the visit going ahead – almost certainly voiced in the Foreign Office and Downing Street last week – is as follows. Britain is too deeply ingrained in the American defence ecosystem for us to tear up the alliance. We need to stem the bleeding and King Charles is better placed to do that than Keir Starmer.

At the moment, the UK-US relationship is clearly at a low point. Last night the US President wrote that the UK should “build up some delayed courage” and take oil from the Strait of Hormuz. “You’ll have to start learning how to fight for yourself, the USA won’t be there to help you anymore”. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth spoke sarcastically about a “big bad Royal Navy”. These guys spend more time verbally attacking Britain than they do Iran.

Concerns are that cancelling the royal visit would turn a diplomatic spat into a full-blown crisis. At the moment, it’s all just bad-smelling wind from a blowbag President who changes his mind as often as he changes his clothes. But if you escalate and in particular if you involve the royals – the only aspect of British culture Trump seems to........

© iNews