King Charles Visits the United States

0:01King Charles gambles the monarchy on challenging Donald Trump, Harry and Meghan insiders open up on the royal rift And Anna Wintour, the fashion queen, backs King Charles' speeches at his charity gola. I'm Jack Royston, Newsweek's Chief Royal Correspondent, and this is Newsweek's Royal Report. Hello, listeners, and welcome to the show. Now, you might notice that my living room is not behind me, and the reason is because I'm in Newsweek's New York head offices. And the reason is because King Charles has been on a state visit to America, as some of you might obviously have spotted. it has been such a dramatic visit it will probably be go down i think maybe the biggest state visit to america ever or certainly rivaling another huge one by queen lisbeth the second in the 1950s it's also featured what will probably go down as king charles's greatest ever speech given to a joint session of congress he got you know standing ovation after standing ovation after a standing ovation and all while gently but very clearly challenging the US president's view of the world, which is exceptionally rare for a British monarch.

1:10Generally, they have to stay completely out of politics. We're not supposed to know the king's opinion on anything. Obviously, we do, partly because he spent so long as Prince of Wales, so we know he loves the environment. But on this particular occasion, all of his speeches were written in conjunction with the UK Foreign Office to reflect Britain's foreign policy strategy and goals and priorities. So it's not all the King's kind of just his honestly felt opinion. It's actually British foreign policy. So what Charles has done here effectively is to walk into the lion's den, walk into Congress and tell some, well, what Britain would regard as some hard truths about the nature of international relations in the age of the Iran war, of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and challenge Donald Trump's whole worldview to the very legislature, to the very lawmakers who Trump is going to have to work with for the rest of his term, including that could all be turned on its head after the midterm elections in the fall.

2:16So it was a really delicate tightrope walk for Trump because he had to balance On the one hand, the need to warm up Trump, you know, the whole point here was to try and improve UK-US relations, you know, get the relationship back on track after a period in which Trump is kind of taking a swipe at British Prime Minister Keir Starmer every few days or every week or so. So we wanted to warm Trump up to Britain, but Britain also needed to try to see if there was some way to refocus Trump's attention and refocus the US diplomatic perspective so that it was slightly more closely aligned to Britain. And if Charles had not succeeded in doing that, then he would have risked basically, you know, the allegation at the government and at the monarchy was that Charles should not have gone to America at all.

3:06This is what opposition politicians were saying. A guy called Ed Davey, who's the leader of a party called the Liberal Democrats, was saying, don't go to America. You're just going to give Trump everything he wants at a time when he is making life very difficult for the British government. So what Charles has done is he's basically balanced, giving Trump part of what he wants, giving him the kind of opportunity for pomp and circumstance, the military parades, the state banquets, showing the American people this incredible friendship and relationship that he has with the king on the one hand, but then also taking this opportunity to say, well, actually, Britain and the monarchy thinks that NATO is not a paper tiger, that it is in fact, one of the most important strategic alliances on planet Earth.

3:53They're saying that Europe is not a, you know, a lackluster junior partner that's, you know, sponging off American military prowess. Europe is actually a key pillar of global, you know, the alliance between America and Europe is a key pillar of global security. Ukraine is not, you know, Zelensky is not a co-artist who is just simply, you know again sponging off american military aid to britain ukraine is you know a key actual defense against russian military expansionism you know ukraine for britain is holding the line stopping putin from trying to rampage all over europe and therefore deserves and needs our support and you know it's very controversial territory for a king to wade into And he seems to have pulled it off.

4:47And the way that he did that was by wrapping up some very subtle messages on these subjects with his own personality and charm. And the interesting thing is that's something that Keir Starmer, the British Prime Minister, has never managed to do, partly because Keir Starmer just doesn't have the personality. I'm sorry to say, but he just doesn't. People don't warm to Starmer. They tend not to like him on a personal level. They tend to think he's very robotic and wooden and politician-y. So Charles has this very soft manner and he made some jokes that I think people found genuinely very funny. But also the political messaging was there and it was completely unmistakable.

5:22So what I want to do now is actually read some sections of Charles's speech to Congress so that we can kind of talk about exactly what he said and why it's challenging potentially to Trump. So let's have a look at what's there. Here we go. So the alliance that our two nations have built over the centuries and for which we are profoundly grateful to the American people is truly unique. And that alliance is part of what Henry Kissinger described as Kennedy's soaring vision of an Atlantic partnership based on twin pillars, Europe and America. That partnership, I believe, Mr. Speaker, is more important today than it has ever been.

5:56And that's really interesting because obviously Trump believes that Europe is not spending anywhere near enough on defense and is leaving the task of defending Europe to America. And actually, you know, Trump took a swipe at the Pope recently that prompted the Italian prime minister, George Maloney, to kind of answer back at Trump. The German leader recently said that Iran was making a fallout to America, so tensions are escalating between America and the whole of Europe. It's not just Keir Starmer and Britain. The challenges we face are too great for any one nation to bear alone. That's clearly arguing that America should not go alone and pursue protectionism, but should work with its allies, its friends.

6:41But in this unpredictable environment, our alliance cannot rest on past achievements or assume that foundational principles simply endure. As my prime minister said last month, ours is an indispensable partnership. So Charles also said, our alliance cannot rest on past achievements or assume that foundational principles simply endure. As my prime minister said last month, ours is an indispensable partnership. So that's quite interesting that he's actually name-checked Keir Starmer and describes him as my prime minister. So what he's saying to Trump there is, you might not like the guy, But we, me and Starmer, stand shoulder to shoulder because I am Britain's monarch and he is Britain's prime minister.

7:22So that's basically backing Starmer. And he says renewal today starts with security. The United Kingdom recognises that the threats we face demand a transformation in British defence. That's probably, if anything, kind of a conciliatory remark for Trump. is kind of backing some of Trump's worldview because Trump believes that Britain and European allies have not spent anywhere near enough on defence. Charles is saying, fair enough, you know, that's true. But he also says that is why our country, in order to be fit for the future, has committed to the biggest sustained increase in defence spending since the Cold War.

7:56So that is a Keir Starmer policy. And the King is trying to highlight that to the President, you know, Britain is going to spend more on defence. He goes on, and this is probably actually the most confrontational part of Charles' speech. In the immediate aftermath of 9-11, when NATO invoked Article 5 for the first time and the United Nations Security Council was united in the face of terror, we answered the call together, as our people have done so for more than a century, shoulder to shoulder through two world wars, Cold War, Afghanistan, and moments that have designed our shared security. So just remember that Trump said that NATO forces, NATO countries will say that they defended America as part of the NATO alliance in Afghanistan, but that they stayed a little back from the front line.

8:48That caused huge upset in Britain, including from veterans who fought in that war, lost limbs in that war, and families of people who died in that war. so charles clearly there is just reminding trump that in the british perspective is that britain stood shoulder to shoulder with america not a little back from the front line so that is actually directly contradicting trump he went on today mr speaker that same unyielding resolve is needed for the defense of ukraine and her most courageous people in order to secure a truly just and lasting peace. From the depths of the Atlantic to the disastrously melting ice caps of the Arctic, he said this to the guy who said, drill, baby, drill, the commitment and expertise of the United States Armed Forces and its allies lie at the heart of NATO, pledged to each other's defense, protecting our citizens and interests, keeping North Americans and Europeans safe from our common adversaries.

9:45So backing NATO, which Trump said was a paper tiger. So there's more stuff in they're about the rule of law, the certainty of stability and accessible rules and independent judiciary resolving disputes and delivering impartial justice. These features created the condition for centuries of unmatched economic growth in our two countries. This is why our governments are concluding new economic and technology agreements to write the next chapter of our joint prosperity and ensure that British and American ingenuity continues to lead the world. So there is two things there. One, the judiciary is a hugely controversial subject for the Trump administration, but also a reference to the tech prosperity deal that was signed when Trump visits Windsor back in 2025.

10:30And Trump suspended that deal. So that's another controversial area. So basically, Charles just walked into Trump's own Congress, America's own legislature, and just name checked all the points of disagreement between Britain and America and put forward Britain's perspective to the very lawmakers that Trump is going to have to work with. And it could be that this time next year, Trump may not have, you know, the Republicans may not control both houses of Congress anymore, which means that that relationship between the president and Congress could become more strained. So it's not just that Charles was pushing Britain's national interest when he did this.

11:10It's also that he was protecting the monarchy's own reputation because the fact that he challenged Trump means that he didn't do, as opposition politicians in Britain had argued, and simply give Trump everything he wants. He went in there and challenged and advocated for the country. And so that will justify the trip to those who were concerned that it shouldn't happen. But also more than that, he has demonstrated and proved to the entire political elite of Britain that the monarchy is incredibly valuable to the country. And that will help secure the future of the monarchy for many years to come at a time when, you know, past us being virtually on fire metaphorically.

11:51You've had Andrew, who has led to politicians in Britain trying to actually bring accountability to the monarchy. They're threatening to launch investigations into the monarchy in the British Parliament. But Charles here is showing the political elite in Britain that the monarchy can provide something incredibly unique and valuable to the country in international diplomacy. If you were to abolish the monarchy, you would lose that and you would not be able to replace it. And that's crucial because Britain will never abolish the monarchy unless the prime minister of the day wants to do it. And because that is the, you know, Parliament is the only mechanism through which you can enact constitutional change in Britain.

12:35So it's actually, you know, before Charles became king, it was still Queen Elizabeth II. People were really worried about what would happen when the Queen died. And, you know, Charles was not as popular as she was. Charles was also not as popular as William and Kate. A lot of people actually wanted the monarchy to pass over Charles, to skip him entirely, skip a generation and go straight to William. And actually, you know, polling showed that even a majority of people in the country at points said they wanted that to happen. And, you know, here we are. I never in a million years believed that so soon into the king's reign.

13:13You know, he became king in September 2022 when the queen died. He only had his coronation a few years ago in 2023. And yet already we have had a kind of a defining moment of his entire reign. It may never get better for him than this in terms of his ability to deliver for the country. It's an exceptionally rare moment that is a product of another completely unique leader, which is Trump. Trump is totally unique. He's a completely unique proposition. And this has been possible because of Trump's individual specific love of the monarchy. That's what enabled this to happen. the fact that Trump loves the king so much that the king was therefore in a position to say things that no one else could say.

13:58So, Charles would probably never get an opportunity like this again. And he's basically, to me, I would say that he smashed it out of the park. He could not have done better at balancing the need to warm Trump up to Britain and basically, you know, to give him some of what he wants, but also to push back at the same time. So, the king got that delicate of balance perfect, in my opinion. He also went on to give another speech at the state dinner at the White House. And that was on Tuesday night. That was just hours after Congress. And Trump told the king, you know, your speech was brilliant. He said he wanted to go and see it in person, but he was told he wasn't allowed to, basically.

14:38It wasn't going to be possible. That would be too much. But Trump also acknowledged a degree of jealousy of the king because Charles got these standing evasions on both sides of the aisle. And it was so relentless, the clapping, that at one point almost, I think it added 10 minutes to Charles' speech. It was meant to be a 20-minute speech. It went on for half an hour because of all the interruptions from the standing evasions. So Trump admitted a little bit of jealousy about that. He's never managed to get a standing evasion on both sides of the aisle. And he said, actually, that the King got more applause than Democrats get from their own Democrat representatives.

15:15So that was all a huge success. It did get controversial because Trump possibly, as a kind of slight counterattack maybe, said to Trump in his own speech at the dinner, said to Charles, he said to the whole audience, you know, Charles agrees with me on Iran, on that country. He said he didn't actually name Iran, but he said that country We will never let them have nuclear weapons. And Charles agrees with me. And what's really interesting about that is, you know, I'm sure he's absolutely right that Britain and the king are in favour of nuclear non-proliferation. We don't want loads of other countries going around getting nuclear weapons.

15:57But the way that the president phrased it was very much name checking America's justification for going to war, which at the very best case scenario leaves it ambiguous as to whether Trump was saying that the king supports the war. If there was any ambiguity on Tuesday at the state dinner, Trump removed that ambiguity altogether on the Wednesday in the Oval Office when he told journalists that if it had been up to the king, he would have helped us in Iran. In other words, saying that Keir Starmer wouldn't help in Iran, he wouldn't go to war in Iran, but the king would have done so. Charles would have gone to war.

16:39Now, obviously, the opinions of the monarch are incredibly fiercely protected and closely guarded in Britain. The monarchy is supposed to represent absolutely everybody. It's not supposed to be partisan. It's not supposed to represent one side of the aisle, but not the other. And therefore, the idea that somebody would disclose, even if it's true, that the prime minister and the king have a difference of opinion on something is a massive no-go area for the monarchy. ordinarily this would be a kind of mega diplomatic crisis for the royals and they would be in you know a kind of um a fit of like damage limitation and trying to manage the fallout from that but we haven't really seen too much of it they've kept very calm about this and i think the reason is that the king has already done enough to to reveal and to show that he is pushing back against trump's foreign policy.

17:37And so in reality, people in Britain are not actually very likely to believe Trump's account that the king would have wanted to go to war and would have been willing to go to war and would disagree with the prime minister's opinion about not going to war. People in Britain just aren't going to believe Trump because they're going to interpret this as Trump's response to Charles's swipes at him, if they are swipes, if that's the right word. So in other words, Because Charles got in there early and didn't wait for the president to have his moment in the Oval Office, he kind of diffused the bomb before it went off.

18:14So Charles, I think, will leave this tour of the United States feeling like it was a roaring success, that he achieved all of his goals, all the foreign officer's goals, the British government's goals. Whether it actually produces any kind of a change of policy from Trump, it may well not. But actually, it will do something else, which is that I think not only will the British public be very grateful that this has happened, but I think the whole of Europe will be. And part of the reason for that is that Trump is actually really unpopular in Europe now on both sides of the political divide. But really recently, before this trip went ahead, we had Nigel Farage, the leader of Reform UK, saying that the king should take it up with Trump.

18:59That, you know, this this line that we've had as a Pentagon, that America might reevaluate its support for British sovereignty over the Falkland Islands, the Falkland Islands of this overseas territory. It's technically part of Britain. Argentina invaded in 1982. And we went to war with Argentina to get back control of the Falkland Islands. So if America was to re-evaluate its support for British sovereignty over the Falklands, that would be a total catastrophe for British foreign policy. So if you have Nigel Farage, who has described himself in the past as a friend of Donald Trump and has sought to present himself as an ally, as being the kind of British answer to Trump.

19:41And if he's saying push back on this, then you can bet your bottom dollar that it is universal across the entire political spectrum, that British people believe that there is a need to challenge the way that Trump talks about Britain, the way he characterises Britain. And actually, in the era in which Donald Trump has been taking swings at Keir Starmer, Keir Starmer's rock bottom net approval rating, rock bottom polling ratings actually kind of improved a little bit, or at the very least reforms dropped. So, you know, the whole thing is kind of still a mess and Britain is running out of jet fuel because of the closure of the straightforwardness, stopping oil supplies.

20:23And there could well be economic carnage this summer if that situation isn't resolved. So Britain is not out of the woods. You know, it's not that Britain is now winning and has defeated America in any kind of sense. It's nothing to do with that. It's just that the king has done just enough to kind of at least try to warm up those relations, but while also making the point that Britain really does need something to change here. It needs something to move or else there is going to be really serious consequences for British people who had no role in the Iran situation at all. You know, we didn't create it.

20:58We didn't take part in it. It was nothing to do with us, but we will pay price, basically, unless something changes. So that was all DC. And I should just take a quick moment to say that the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein's abuse did actually want to meet the king and queen. The palace has always said that's not going to be possible because there are ongoing police investigations in Britain. I spoke to one Epstein survivor, Rena Oh, who said, really, they just, apart from anything else, they just wanted validation, most of all, to know that their stories weren't being ignored. But also that they wanted the king to make Andrew go to Congress to testify.

21:34I. Obviously, I would have loved to see those survivors get what they wanted, because they've been through an awful, awful experience. But it was realistically, it was probably never going to happen, because even without the police investigations, the king would probably not have done something that would be perceived as so inflammatory to the head of state of the country he's visiting in a context where Trump has said the Epstein scandal is a conspiracy, a Democrat conspiracy to damage him. But, you know, I would love actually for the King and Queen to invite those women to Buckingham Palace for a meeting and to sit down with them there instead.

22:11Beyond that, the King went on to New York, and I'll talk a little bit about that at another point. But he visited the 9-11 memorial there and laid a wreath in September. It's 25 years since September the 11th. So, you know, he's not going to be in America in September, so he did it now a little early, basically. but he also wanted to meet some survivors of 9-11, some first responders. And so that was obviously would have been a very sober experience for him. His final stop of the tour is Virginia, where he's going to go to Arlington Cemetery. He's also going to go and visit a big national park where he's going to meet some Indigenous Americans.

22:46And then that will be the end of the tour. And on that note, I'm going to take a quick break, but don't forget to rate and review The Royal Report on Apple Podcasts or Spotify or wherever you get your favourite shows. and when I'm back Sussex insiders have said that actually Meghan lets Harry call the shots on fixing the Royal Rift.

23:09Hello listeners and welcome to the show. Harry and Meghan's team, they're friends, some named, some not named have been speaking out to People magazine which is really interesting timing because obviously it happened during King Charles' state visit to America but they've also been given quite an interesting portrait of the way that Harry and Meghan work together on the Royal Rift itself, and also talking a little bit about staff relations, which has obviously been such a controversial topic. So there's quite a lot to talk about here because some of the quotes themselves are quite interesting, but the actual big picture side of it is fascinating too, because a couple of observations straight off the bat, you know, once upon a time, I'd probably have been here saying, this is, you know, or somebody like me would have been here saying, this is outrageous.

23:52You know, they're trying to undermine King Charles or overshadow him or outshine him or something like that. But one thing that's really interesting is King Charles, who was like a quiet man for his whole life in the background, struggling to get column inches and press attention. You know, they were now in this moment, never in a million years going to outshine the king. It kind of feels a little bit like they might almost have wanted to because Harry launched an unexpected visit to Ukraine immediately before the state visit and also talks about politics, talks about America on that visit. But none of it got anywhere near to actually outshining Charles.

24:26And it says something about the way that Harry and Meghan's star has kind of faded a little bit and is continuing to fade. It's just inconceivable that this kind of quite soft piece in people attributed mostly to unnamed sources would have upstaged the king. And that is so dramatically different to even kind of three years ago, four years ago. So that was fascinating. But also it was quite interesting the way that People Magazine put their article together because they actually lead in with a whole load of quotes from, you know, the kind of commentators that might appear as guests on the Royal Report.

25:04You know, it's only Rob Jobson's in there who I must get on the show soon. I'm pretty sure he's been on before. You know, why didn't they lead? Well, you know, they've been given all of this exclusive material. Even though the people aren't named, it's clearly come through official Sussex channels because you just don't get that volume of Sussex insiders talking in positive terms about the couple without it having been authorised and signed off. So why didn't people lead in with those quotes? It's really interesting. They almost needed to preface this kind of glowing piece about Harry and Meghan with some content that pushes in the exact opposite direction.

25:44and they've got all these quotes from commentators saying that Harry and Meghan are, you know, making William's life difficult or causing problems for the monarchy. So they've had to actually lead in with the negative side of the story before getting to the Harry and Meghan puff piece. But let's talk about some of what the magazine article actually says. So you've got those close to the Sussexes saying, interestingly, that Meghan actually lets Harry lead on all royal matters. and dictate what needs to happen, but it would never put them at odds. They're all on the same team. So that kind of says basically Meghan has tapped out of this question of whether the Royal Rift will ever mend, whether they'll re-establish a warm relationship with the Royal Family.

26:29She's just kind of tapped out of it, left it all to Harry. But obviously they're saying that both Harry and Meghan are on the same team and that they are, I suppose, of the same mind. I suppose if Meghan was sticking her oar in and getting involved it would be much less likely that that reconciliation would happen so I suppose that's a good thing but it's quite interesting to see it in such plain terms another source says it remains very emotional Harry and Meghan are both realistic they are not approaching it with the expectation of a quick resolution it's about talking small manageable steps and seeing where things land this remains very important to Harry with Meghan supportive.

27:08Again, interesting wording there. It doesn't say it's very important to Meghan. Not a huge surprise. Clearly still hates William, I think. But it is Harry who wants it. It's Harry who wants to rebuild bridges with his own family. And I think it's, you know, realistic is probably the way to approach him. It's not going to happen overnight. You can't just expect the pain on either side to subside. So if they're aware, it's going to take a long slow slog and that probably is a promising sign and then you know there's some soft stuff in there about the kind of Sussex what you know the actual core Sussex families interpersonal relationships are actually in a little bit of their life unsurprisingly it's as a staffer there's a real warmth and a sense of normalcy um Harry it says he does have some social life in America that's something that people often say about him is that he's kind of lonely and misses his friends from Britain.

28:06This says he has a he built a tight-knit circle which suggests you know a smallish circle. He really thrives on those friendships and values that sense of connection. The close source says Megan apparently keeps a small loyal group of long-term friends, long-time friends sorry, meeting for workouts or quiet nights out together. Apparently they're very careful about who they allow into their lives. No matter what she has going on she always makes time for her friends says kelly mckee zashvon who is um you know one of meg's probably more recent friends uh and she really shows up and not just when it's easy that's she being megan so look it's quite you know like softball puffy and the quotes that have been given um but people felt the need to give it that edge and that um i think says a lot about where Harry and Meghan are, that then once upon a time, when they first moved out to America, with all of these magazine interviews they were doing, they were pushing out an open door, and it was very easy for them to just walk up to pretty much any magazine and wind up on the front cover, either because they'd done an interview or, in the case of magazines like People and Us Weekly, because they'd just given this kind of off-the-record material.