It’s hard not to feel sorry for Christian Turner, our new ambassador in Washington. He’s only been in post three months, yet he’s already had to handle a string of bilateral crises – none his fault. US-UK relations are under intense strain over Iran, Ukraine and now the Falklands. And the Jeffrey Epstein stench still lingers thanks to his predecessor, Peter Mandelson.

The King’s visit was meant to gloss over all that unpleasantness. Word went round last week that a grateful Donald Trump would pack King Charles and Camilla off and promptly declare the US-UK trade deal had been finalised.

Then, on Tuesday, the first morning of the visit, news broke of a leaked tape. Back in February, in his second week in the job, Turner had told some schoolchildren that the Prime Minister won’t last long past May’s local elections and that America’s real special relationship is ‘probably Israel’, not the United Kingdom. That’s known as a ‘Washington Gaffe’ – when you mess up by saying the truth out loud. Somebody has already dubbed Turner the ‘Liz Truss of international relations’, which is pretty mean.

There’s little doubt that for Donald and First Lady Melania, the state visit of ‘Their Majesties’ provided the pomp they crave – gun salutes, flags, smiles, impossibly slow walks, and a photo-op at that weird new White House beehive. The soft-focus power of Instagram reels.

It’s an........

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