King gets ovation for Congress speech warning of volatile world

King Charles stressed the value and importance of the "indispensable" UK and US partnership in a well-received speech to Congress in Washington DC.

Speaking in the US Capitol, the King warned the two nations had to stand together in a "more volatile, more dangerous" era - and he delivered some hard truths about the need to back Nato.

"We meet in times of great uncertainty, in times of conflict from Europe to the Middle East which pose immense challenges," he told the chamber, filled with US lawmakers.

It was the biggest diplomatic moment of his reign, against a backdrop of deepening political tensions between the US and the UK - and in the end, he got a standing ovation before he'd spoken.

There were about 12 standing ovations in total, as the audience repeatedly interrupted the King's address with loud applause.

It might once have been taken for granted that the US and UK would be partners in defending democratic values.

But after recent tensions there seemed to be no such guarantees - and the King was here to rekindle that alliance, to an audience including US Vice-President JD Vance and political powerbrokers from both Republican and Democrat parties.

The King spelt out the cornerstones to his US audience: there had to be support for Nato, "keeping North Americans and Europeans safe from our common adversaries". There needed to be backing for the "defence of Ukraine and her most courageous people".

Such speeches are written with the Foreign Office, and there was a clear message sent to US President Donald Trump, who has called for more military spending from US allies.

"Our country, in order to be fit for the future, has committed to the biggest sustained increase in defence spending since the Cold War," said the King.

The domed Capitol building looks part-temple and part-courthouse, appropriate for a speech that was strong on moral messages.

"I am inspired by the profound respect that develops as people of different faiths grow in their understanding of each other," said the King, calling for peace, at a time of an unpredictable conflict in Iran and the Middle East.

But in a later speech at the White House state dinner, President Trump seemed to claim that the King supported him in his position on Iran not being allowed to have nuclear weapons - when the UK and the US had already publicly disagreed over Iran.

"We have militarily defeated that particular opponent, and we're never going to let that opponent ever... Charles agrees with me, even more than I do... we're never going to let that opponent have nuclear weapons," Trump told guests at the state dinner.

The King would usually stay out of such political questions.

In response to Trump's comments, a Buckingham Palace spokesperson said the King is "naturally mindful of his government's long-standing and well-known position on the prevention of nuclear proliferation".

This state visit has also brought personal pressures on the King and Queen, in the toxic fall-out from the Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor scandal.

There have been calls for the King and Queen to meet survivors of the sex offender Epstein. That hasn't happened because of concerns about jeopardising the legal process.

The speech made a coded reference to such abuse, not mentioning Epstein by name, but calling for support for "victims of some of the ills that so tragically exist in our societies today".

There was also a reference to the gun attack in Washington DC at the weekend, which has seen a man charged with attempting to assassinate Trump and has raised security in the US capital to an even more intense level.

"Let me say with unshakeable resolve: such acts of violence will never succeed," said the King.

It's 35 years since the last time a monarch delivered such a speech to both houses of Congress, when the King's mother Queen Elizabeth II visited.

That had been in 1991, with the Berlin Wall knocked down, victory declared in the Cold War and liberal democracy in its most self-confident ascendancy.

Now the King had to be the cheerleader for such threatened values, talking of the need for an international rule of law and the importance of a shared belief in "democratic, legal and social traditions".

It was like a civics revision lesson in one of the great cradles of democracy.

With such shared historical and philosophical roots, "our two countries have always found ways to come together", said the King, as he warned against isolationism.

There was even room for a gag about the US being a young country, as it marks its 250th anniversary. "That's 250 years, or as we say in the United Kingdom, just the other day," the King said, getting a big laugh in response.

There were other jokes in the state dinner exchanges. The King teased his audience about the US's colonial past.

"You recently commented, Mr President, that if it were not for the United States, European countries would be speaking German," says the King.

"Dare I say that, if it wasn't for us, you'd be speaking French…!" he told his audience.

After the rocky UK and US relationship of recent months, the King's challenging mission has been to repair some of the damage. He has used his own prestige - and Trump's fascination with monarchy - to try to rebuild a sense of transatlantic trust.

The UK visitors, including Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper, will have been heartened by the speeches, both to Congress and at the state dinner.

The King made some serious points and President Trump, mostly, avoided controversy. There were no walk-outs or protests about Epstein survivors and that perhaps reflected that the first two days of the state visit have been inside a security bubble, with no access for the public.

President Trump looked delighted with a gift at the state dinner, when the King gave him an original bell from a wartime submarine, called HMS Trump.

"And should you ever need to get hold of us… well, just give us a ring!" said the King.

That more positive mood music, and the thunderous applause in the Congress chamber, will have encouraged the UK delegation that a corner could be turned.

In the King's words, it's been a "story of reconciliation, renewal and remarkable partnership".

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