One day he was in Washington on friendly terms with Donald Trump, the next day he was in New York exchanging ideas with his counterpart, Mayor Zohran Mamdani: In his more than 50 years of preparation and anticipation for the royal role, Charles acquired all the skills that make him an all-purpose diplomatic weapon for his country, the grand master of small talk and an experienced professional in political debate.
During his delicate mission in Washington, which involved mending the battered relations between the former mother country and the former colony, he demonstrated all of this: a “King Charming in action” who demonstrated the fine art of diplomacy with wit, irony and verve in a historical digression. He did not hide criticism, differences and points of conflict with the Trump administration either in his speech in Congress or in his short speech at the state dinner in the White House – without snubbing the host. He may even have foisted the different points of view on him without the addressee noticing.
Not all of it was wrapped in cotton wool or disguised as a joke. The fact that both Republicans and Democrats gave the king a standing ovation in the Capitol shows how soothing the tone that the royal speaker struck was – without malice, aggression, egomaniacal boastfulness, but instead at times with subtle self-irony. And how much the US capital longs for lightness and cheerfulness. All in all: a contrast to Donald Trump.
In his almost half-hour speech in the Capitol, which was at the same time an appeal, appreciation and warning, Charles addressed everything that is important to him: the commitment to NATO, to multilateralism and to basic democratic rights and the separation of powers, the commitment to Ukraine and environmental protection, the obligation to future generations.
The King did a service to Great Britain and Europe with his mission to the USA. Charles is probably the only person who can speak to Donald Trump’s conscience so impressively. The fact that the president puts himself on the pedestal and on the same level with him in a post under the title “Two Kings” is self-defeating. It shows the deep discrepancy between them: there is the monarch who upholds democracy, there is the would-be king with the dubious basic understanding of democracy.
Emails to: thomas.vieregge@diepresse.obfuscationcom
