<
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/apr/28/king-charles-congress-trump>
"A flick of Oscar Wilde here, a nod to Henry Kissinger there, a sprinkling of
Charles Dickens here, a dollop of Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt there.
Job done!
The British monarch mobilised an elite squad of dead white men, leavened with
humour and subliminal politicking, on Tuesday in a charm offensive aimed over
Donald Trump’s head and squarely at the US Congress. Judging by the cheers and
minute-long applause he received at the end, the soft power flex worked a treat
and the special relationship lives to fight another day.
But the king’s central message – of two great nations entwined in destiny – was
also an inadvertent reminder of two empires that look increasingly shabby these
days with rightwing populists on the march and the ghost of the child sex
offender Jeffrey Epstein hovering in the shadows.
Charles became the first British king to address the Congress almost exactly
250 years after the US denounced his fifth great-grandfather as a tyrant and
declared its independence. “You’ll be back,” predicted George III in Hamilton
and yet cricket, damp and a lack of air conditioning never clinched the deal.
What would America’s founding fathers have made of seeing George III’s direct
descendant speak to their successors? Donald Trump mused at the White House on
Tuesday: “They might be absolutely shocked but probably only for a moment.
Surely they would be delighted that the wounds of war healed into the most
cherished friendship.”
Well, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin and co would surely be more shocked
to discover that they now have their own mad king in the White House. If
Charles spots signs saying “No kings” on his travels, he shouldn’t take it
personally."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
