Commentators had feared that the King might be the punchline of this state visit, but instead he delivered with aplomb. King Charles III charmed a room of US lawmakers with a series of well-timed jokes during a state banquet speech, turning a potentially awkward summit into a display of soft power.
A Surprising Performance
No one expected the jokes to flow at the King's speech during an awkward summit at a particularly bleak moment in American-British relations. But flow they did, so well that it was almost as if everyone was in on the joke. Opening his tight 30-minute set to America's elected representatives, Charles said in his dry, deadpan way, 'As Oscar Wilde said, we have really everything in common with America nowadays except, of course, language.'
Nervous onlookers had anticipated that this state visit would be an exercise in mortification, a bumpy and treacherous road paved with diplomatic potholes. Yet the King travelled it with the effortless grace of a champion athlete. He continued, 'King George never set foot in America and, please rest assured, I am not here as part of some cunning rearguard action. As you may know, when I address my own Parliament at Westminster, we still follow an age-old tradition and take a member of Parliament hostage, holding him or her at Buckingham Palace until I am safely returned. These days, we look after our guest rather well, to the point that they often do not want to leave. I don't know, Mr Speaker, if there were any volunteers for that role here today?'
Trump's Appreciation for Humour
Donald Trump is many things, but like him or loathe him, he can be funny. In a 2016 paper, three anthropologists from the University of Colorado Boulder argued that it was Trump's entertaining nature, above all else, that won him the Republican nomination. The Financial Times has noted that he is a product of the New York comedy scene, where crude, gestural humour reigns. So the best way to get on with him is to be quick-witted and funny. While Keir Starmer is not a laugh-a-minute, Charles knows his way around a joke and, more so than his late mother, how to deliver it well with a twinkle in the eye and good timing.
The King and Trump are like an ultra-posh Stewart Lee and a sort of Don Rickles insult comedian with a nuclear button. Fortunately, Charles's rollcall of jokes had Trump and the rest of the room laughing. He said, 'You recently commented, Mr President, that if it were not for the United States, European countries would be speaking German. Dare I say that, if it wasn't for us, you'd be speaking French?' They liked that one. There was even a gag about Trump's ballroom and about the US being a young country as it marks its anniversary: 'That's 250 years, or as we say in the United Kingdom, just the other day.'
Dealing with a Heckler
Like any comedian, the King dealt with a heckler. Impersonator Matt Friend had met him at the Washington DC Garden Party and revealed that he had done his best Charles impression. The King's reply? 'Keep trying.' There was space for one clanger, but only of the most literal variety. 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,' Charles said. Fortunately, nobody told Trump the significance of a bell in less rarified British parlance.
So, all smiles then, and enough zingers to smooth along the unmentionables: the wars in Iran and Ukraine, climate change, Nato, tariffs, and even standing up for the beleaguered Keir Starmer. Charles was here on a mission to win things for the UK. That is one thing Trump knows but left out of The Art of the Deal: the key to soft power is always leave them laughing.
