President Trump lavished praise upon King Charles from the Oval Office at the outset of his four-day state visit to the United States. He called the monarch ‘a man of class’ and said ‘it’s great to have a king in here’. A conspicuous absence of ‘No Kings’ protests in the presence of a real king had not gone unnoticed. But it was Charles’s address to a joint session of Congress that was eagerly awaited on both sides of the Atlantic.

This was a speech notable for its well-delivered gravity, rather than its jokes

This was a speech notable for its well-delivered gravity, rather than its jokes

His most substantial public speech since he acceded the throne in September 2022, there was a good deal riding on its success. His mother had addressed Congress in May 1991. Her text was an uncontroversial message of ‘collaboration and respect’ between the two nations. Then, as now, the speech took place against the backdrop of war in the Middle East – the Gulf War had concluded a few months before. But the stakes were higher this time round, for any number of reasons. The assassination attempt on Trump on Saturday being only the most recent.

Charles began with an amusing reference to Oscar Wilde, ‘our countries have everything in common, except of course language.’ But then he went into more serious discussion of how ‘we meet in times of great conflict.’ He referred to Saturday’s shooting – ‘such acts of violence will never succeed’ – and an ovation duly followed. There were many more, dragging........

© The Spectator