BEFORE this trip all the talk was whether King Charles was the man who could save the “Special Relationship”.
Listening in the White House East Room to Charles’s relaxed after dinner speech I was wondering if he is also a man who can get away with making daring jokes about setting fire to the White House, the Boston Tea Party, and even Trump’s fall out with Starmer.
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Charles delivered a diplomatic masterclass Credit: AP
Charles and Trump brought a day of bromance diplomacy to a friendly conclusion Credit: AP
To corrupt a phrase coined by one of Trump’s White House predecessors “yes he can”.
After the seriousness of his Congress address the King let his hair down at the bash with a series of zingers.
He was loose – and the jokes were delivered well, with almost all hitting the mark.
It was light-hearted, fun, and there was laughter at all the right times.
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Some of the topics were near the knuckle without ever being over played.
He rather skilfully – and diplomatically – reminded Trump that he was also Canada’s King.
Trump has seemingly joked about making his northern neighbour the “51st state” of the US.
From Charles, it was a hands-off message delivered in that “beautiful” accent the President apparently admires.
In front of a VIP guest list the King also poked fun at Trump’s ballroom development as cranes were still working when he and Camilla were given a ceremonial welcome earlier in the day.
And the trip has taken place as America celebrates its 250th birthday – with Charles not hiding the historic reality that the US fought a war for freedom against his ancestors.
But charming Charles even brought up the Boston Tea Party and Brits sailing up the Potomac River and setting fire to the White House in 1814.
And he even mentioned the President’s known fondness for Coca Cola.
Trump rose from his chair when a gift of a bell – taken from the ship HMS Trump – was revealed and the King said: “If you ever need to get hold of us, give us a ring”.
The President’s own speech unnecessarily dragged the King into the Iran conflict debate when he suggested “Charles agrees with me even more than I do”.
“We’re never going to let that opponent have a nuclear weapon,” he said.
But there has been a lot of talk about friendship on this trip.
It is a truly British quality that friends make jokes about each other, without causing offence.
There is no greater compliment from a Brit than they consider you so much a friend that they can make a joke at your expense.
And to have Charles poking fun in front of the great and the good of Washington DC – consider it the highest honour, Donald.
