Consciously or otherwise, there is a subtext to any exercise in royal diplomacy of which the visit by the King and Queen to the United States is an outstanding example. In the words of the veteran royal commentator David Dimbleby, such exercises serve to answer the question: “What is the monarchy for?”
Plainly, in the case of the King and Queen’s so far highly successful American assignment, it is to promote the British national interest and, insofar as anyone can, “rededicate” the two nations’ transatlantic alliance, as the King put it in his gently pointed address to Congress.
During his speech, he referred to the 9/11 tragedy, and his thoughtful words were underlined when he and Queen Camilla paid a moving visit to New York to remember those who lost their lives and loved ones in the most deadly terrorist attack on American soil.
Without being cynical, there is a reason for everything that the monarchy does. Sincere and dignified as the wreath-laying ceremony was, it served a further purpose – a reminder that America’s allies have been there for her in her hour of need many times. As the King told Congress: “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, the Cold War, Afghanistan, and moments that are defined our shared security.” The American people, and their leaders, will hear these words and see these powerful images and draw the obvious conclusions about the strength that can be delivered through collective security.
The King reinforced these sombre messages about common values and shared values with surprising ease in his address to both Houses of Congress and his subsequent speech at the state banquet. He combined an understated wit, some charm, flattery, admiration, religion and history, and even a touch of satire to mostly unite his mixed audience of Maga Republicans, neocons, progressives, liberals and more mainstream Democrats in a way that is rare in America’s contemporary and highly polarised society. He understood his audience’s sensibilities in all their variegated shades of opinion and belief. Nobody seemed to mind that the man achieving this happened to be a hereditary monarch and the five times great-grandchild of the last king of America, George III, violently overthrown two hundred and fifty years ago, “or, as we say in the United Kingdom, just the other day”. Indeed, as King Charles also pointed out, the history of the transatlantic relationship is in part one of reconciliation and a constant effort to maintain or repair relations when national interests sometimes diverge, as recently. There was no point denying it.
There was also a glimpse of the King’s skill in personal diplomacy, given, likely not inadvertently, when Donald Trump claimed that “Charles agrees with me – even more than I do” about the undesirability of Iran acquiring a nuclear weapon. Buckingham Palace, wisely avoiding a public argument, quietly acknowledged: “The King is naturally mindful of his government’s longstanding and well-known position on the prevention of nuclear proliferation.” What President Trump did not add is that the King, we may surmise, pleaded with him to end the war and pursue a diplomatic solution to the Middle East crisis, as is his ministers’ policy.
Sadly, although the King has joined the elite group of world figures who qualify for the title “Trump whisperer”, the president isn’t a man to take advice easily, no matter where it comes from. Shortly after the King’s perfectly reasoned case for the two nations to embrace “generosity of spirit and a duty to foster compassion, to promote peace, to deepen mutual understanding, and to value all people of all faiths and of none”, the president posted a mock-up image of himself toting an assault rifle in a battlefield with the slogan “No More Mr Nice Guy!”
Ironically, all the signs are that Mr Trump will not escalate the US military effort in the Persian Gulf behind the current blockade, and won’t resume bombing raids. Yet that still leaves the world economy at the mercy of the Iranians and the Americans choking off supplies of oil, gas, fertiliser and much else, and in turn triggering a global recession within months. Mr Trump seems as impervious to common sense, or even his own political interests, as he approaches the last phase of his time in the White House.
As a voice that the president will at least not ignore, the King will need to have further conversations with his fellow head of state: the royal mission for peace and stability is far from complete.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
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