UK turns to King Charles and royals to mollify Trump like no others can

The British royals will display their unrivalled soft power when Donald Trump visits Britain next week, seeking to mollify the U.S. President as few others can.

Once head of the largest empire in history, the British monarch’s main diplomatic job now is to schmooze and dazzle world leaders like Trump at grand state occasions in the hope that they will look upon Britain favourably.

“Is there any leader anywhere in the world who has quite that same attraction to Donald Trump as the British monarch?” said historian and author Anthony Seldon.

“Derided by many as antiquated and hopelessly out of date - it’s the royal family and the monarchy which is attracting the most powerful person in the world,” he told Reuters.

Back in February, as British Prime Minister Keir Starmer sought to win the approval of the president after his return to office and keep him onside over the war in Ukraine and possible trade tariffs, it was to the royals that he turned.

In a slightly awkward exchange in the White House Oval Office, Starmer brought out a letter from King Charles offering Trump an unprecedented second state visit to Britain, a move that immediately won over a delighted president.

“Isn’t it beautiful? He’s a beautiful man, a wonderful man,” Trump told Starmer.  “We look forward to being there and honouring the king and honouring ... your country. Your country is a fantastic country and it’ll be our honour to be there.”

After he arrives on Tuesday, Trump will receive the full red carpet treatment. He and his wife Melania will be greeted the following day by the king’s son and heir Prince William, who the president described as “very handsome” after they met last December, and his wife Kate.

They will then enjoy a carriage procession, a lavish state banquet, a fly past by military aircraft and a gun salute.

The British government hopes the royals will prove a trump card in what could be a crucial visit as it seeks to underpin defence and security ties with Washington, having already secured a favourable tariff deal.

‘We Love Monarchy’

Trump is far from being the first foreign leader for whom the British government has deployed the royals on a charm offensive, with Queen Elizabeth hosting the likes of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

In July, French President Emmanuel Macron was invited for a state visit which smoothed the way for a deal on sending some migrants who crossed the Channel in small boats back to France and to help ease tensions in the aftermath of Brexit.

“I have to confess we love monarchy, especially when it’s not at home,” Macron joked in a speech to the British parliament.

The royals themselves are keenly aware of their allure to foreign dignitaries. “Soft power is hard to measure but its value is, I believe, now firmly understood at home and abroad,” said the king’s treasurer James Chalmers.

There is an irony that the royal family’s significance for the government comes when some polls suggest its value to the country is perhaps diminishing, though its favourability generally remains high.

Historian Seldon, who gave Melania Trump a guided tour of the prime minister’s Downing Street offices in 2019, said the president’s visit was “the chance for the monarchy really to show Britain and the world that it’s still in business.”