Published on 4/25/2026
The challenge facing Britain’s King Charles III, as he begins his official visit to the United States the day after tomorrow, Monday, is to live up to the level of his late mother, Elizabeth II, who previously… She dazzled the US Congress in 1991 with a speech that celebrated the shared democratic traditions between Britain and the United States, quoted Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt and Ralph Waldo Emerson, and highlighted the deep ties between the two countries.
These topics will also be high on Charles’ agenda, as he celebrates the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States and seeks to calm tensions surrounding Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s refusal to support US President Donald Trump’s war against Iran, according to Douglas Brinkley, a presidential historian at Rice University in Texas.
“We always have to distinguish between the UK government and the kings and queens of Great Britain, who always strive to project a positive image,” Brinkley says. “Politics change, prime ministers change, but there is something deeper to the special relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom.”
backstage
Underneath the extravagance and celebrations that will accompany Charles’s four-day visit to Washington, New York and Virginia, lies a carefully prepared diplomatic event that, as is the case with all royal visits, was organized at the request of the British government.
Starmer has resisted pressure to cancel it after Trump belittled the British military’s sacrifices in Afghanistan and personally criticized him for not supporting the US in Iran. Despite these tensions, Trump continued to speak positively about Charles.
“History shows that the president strives to impress when dealing with the British royal family,” Brinkley said. “And I’m sure it will be the same this time.”
Since 1939, when King George VI became the first British monarch to set foot on the soil of his country’s former colony, there has been a special enthusiasm that accompanies the royal family’s visits to the United States.
George VI’s visit coincided with the outbreak of World War II in Europe. The royals toured the East Coast and attended a picnic at Roosevelt’s private home in Hyde Park, New York. The New York Times headline at the time: “The King tastes a hot dog and asks for more.”
Notable moments
But the most notable moment was when members of the royal family traveled to Mount Vernon to lay a wreath at the grave of George Washington, the first president of the United States. It showed respect in a time of isolation.
“People could have seen the clear signs and realized that it would be important for the United States and Britain to remain strong in the fight against Nazi leader Adolf Hitler,” said Barbara Perry, a presidential scholar at the Miller Center at the University of Virginia.
But the closeness that brought them together at one table had broader benefits, as it helped members of the royal family build bonds with the common people and their leadership.
After the outbreak of World War II in September 1939, Queen Elizabeth, wife of King George VI and mother of Queen Elizabeth II, wrote to American First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt to express her great affection for the letters of the Americans who had enclosed small sums of money for British forces.
“At times, during these last difficult months, we have felt alone in our battle against evil, but I can honestly say that,” she wrote, “our hearts have been softened by the knowledge that our friends in America understand what we are fighting for.”
In mother’s footsteps
Queen Elizabeth II strengthened these relations, as she made 4 official visits to the United States during her 70-year reign. She helped President Gerald Ford celebrate the bicentennial of the founding of the United States in 1976.
She also met President George W. Bush in 2007 while British and American forces were fighting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The aim of these visits was to calm the tense situation and remind the two sides of their common ties.
Charles’ visit will be no different. It includes commemorations of the attacks of September 11, 2001, a ceremony to honor the martyrs, and an event attended by Queen Camilla on the occasion of the centenary of the Winnie the Pooh stories by the British writer A. A. Milne.
to avoid The hottestAgh
To avoid embarrassment, members of the royal family will not meet the victims of convicted sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein, despite demands for the king to address his brother’s links to him. There are also no plans for Charles to meet his son, Prince Harry, who has criticized the monarchy since stepping down from his duties and moving to California.
Robert Hardman, author of the book “Elizabeth II: In Secret, in Public…The Inside Story,” believes that these issues are “not a priority.”
“He will go because the founding fathers of the United States expelled his great-grandfather 250 years ago, and he will say: ‘No grudges, it was a wonderful separation, and we lived 250 beautiful years, so let’s remember the bright moments,'” Hardman said.
He added: “There will be very thorny issues during that visit, but there are many things that the king should focus on.”
History, not politics
Charles’s speech to a joint session of Congress provides an opportunity to deliver the message that long-term friendship is more important than fleeting differences. He is also likely to inject a touch of humor, as his mother did when she addressed lawmakers in 1991.
At the time, the Queen wore a light peach dress amid a sea of gray suits, and began her speech with a joke about a mistake that had occurred at the White House the day before, when the podium was so high that it blocked her view from the audience.
“I really hope you can see me today from where you are,” the Queen said seriously, and the hall exploded in laughter, followed by loud applause. She then delivered a speech addressing democratic values, the rule of law, and the Atlantic alliance.
But Charles will have to present his own vision of these ideas, Brinkley said, explaining that the speech will address the topic of American exceptionalism, American history, and the importance of the American-British alliance, in addition to some memories from the past, as well as pointing to the friendly relationship that unites the two countries despite the tensions that may be marred from time to time.
