When Prime Minister Keir Starmer paid his first visit to President Trump in the Oval Office in February, the stakes were high. Starmer, a stiffly self-righteous human rights lawyer from the progressive left, did not seem to have much in common with the bloviator-in-chief. Yet everyone was aware that the immediate future of the “special relationship” was on the table. For Britain, the stakes could not be higher.

The prime minister had a secret weapon. Capitalizing on Trump’s opening bonhomie, he produced a letter to the president from King Charles III.

“This is a letter from the king,” Starmer explained. “An invitation for a second state visit. This is really special. It’s never been done before.”

It was an uncharacteristically folksy, cracker-barrel performance, but it achieved exactly what the prime minister had hoped for. Trump was delighted. “The answer is yes,” Trump replied. “Your country is a fantastic country.”

No one in London had been able to take Trump’s positive attitude as a given. The meeting between the two leaders had promised any number of traps and hazards, but the opening bid of a missive from the 76-year-old hereditary sovereign of the United Kingdom had been decisive. The state visit will take place in a few days, from........

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