Anti-royalists say the King is just a figurehead with no real power, or worse, is costing the UK money for outdated pomp and ceremony and we should go to being a full republic.
It’s ironic, then, that King Charles has just handed the UK a £150million boost after a meeting with the Republican Party.
In fact, in an era where our elected politicians are people like Donald Trump, there’s yet another layer of irony in an unelected head of state intervening to save the day.
The King’s state visit to the US proved there’s still a strong argument for keeping the Royal Family beyond the usual tradition or tourism reasoning from those who still support the Royals.
In his speech in Washington DC, King Charles put on an absolutely masterful display of soft power diplomacy in front of self-appointed King Donald, pointing out the importance of ‘checks and balances’ to a President who rules with executive orders first, congress and courts second. He also issued pleas on saving nature – ‘our greatest asset’ – defending Ukraine ‘and her courageous people’ and pointed to the Magna Carta’s influence on the founding of the ‘self evident’ truths and rights given to all Americans.
His words must have had an impact on the US President, because days later, the US administration announced that 10% tariffs which had been levied against Scottish whisky from the UK have now been dropped in a move which is set to hand the British economy a £150m estimated boost and another £20m on top every month, according to the Scottish whisky industry.
Graeme Littlejohn, director of strategy for the Scotch Whisky Association, told the BBC: “The industry’s been losing around £4m a week in lost exports to the United States – £150m over the course of the last year while tariffs have been in place”
Trump said that the visit “got me to do something that nobody else was able to do, without hardly even asking”.
Putting aside the fact that Trump plays with foreign economies like they’re pawns on a chessboard, there can be no doubt that King Charles is an asset to the UK just as Queen Elizabeth was before him.
It won’t be enough on its own. Keir Starmer’s handling of Trump has been one of the key battles of his at times embattled Premiership and he hasn’t always toed the line – refusing to join in the blockading of the Strait of Hormuz and pledging extra support for Ukraine when Trump and Vance shouted Zelensky out of the White House – but it’s clear Trump is no fan of anyone who dares speak against him, which makes it a dangerous balancing act that King Charles has just shown how to deliver in style.
In these times of global political turmoil, having a leader with the grace and skillset of King Charles able to stand up to Trump with a smile and a wink and still come away with something to show for it is a net benefit to the British people. Sorry, republicans (and Republicans).
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.express.co.uk ’
