Britain’s King Charles III (2nd L) and Queen Camilla (L) are greeted by President Donald Trump (2nd R) and First Lady Melania Trump at the White House in Washington D.C., on Monday at the start of a four day state visit. Photo by Allison Robbert/UPI | License Photo
April 28 (UPI) — King Charles III was expected to tell U.S. lawmakers that Britain and the United States’ long history and shared belief in democracy have always held them close when he gives an address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday.
The 20-minute speech, which is drafted on the advice of the British government, will see Charles call for “reconciliation and renewal” of the trans-Atlantic alliance amid current stresses and strains that have seen U.S. President Donald Trump repeatedly disparage Britain, its military and Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
In a nod to that tension, the king will kick off by stressing that while there has not always been U.S.-U.K. unanimity on all matters, the common “democratic, legal and social traditions” on which they were founded meant that “time and again, our two countries have always found ways to come together.”
He will say that the two countries’ deep, shared history, along with the ability of the relationship to adapt and evolve, has yielded “one of the greatest alliances in human history.”
King Charles is also expected to emphasize the need for Britain and the United States to stand shoulder-to-shoulder in defense of their democratic values in the face of the considerable international headwinds confronting them.
Buckingham Palace sources said the king will make a point of saying core principles of tolerance, liberty and equality must be safeguarded, whether that was by backing NATO or defending Ukraine.
The Anglo-American military alliance was “measured not in years but in decades,” he will add.
On a more personal note, tying into his humanistic beliefs, the king will describe the relationship as being based on a “generosity of spirit and a duty to foster compassion, to promote peace, to deepen mutual understanding and to value people of all faiths and none.”
Technically, Charles is the supreme governor of the Church of England, the official church in England, and bears the title “Defender of the Faith.”
The speech will be only the second time a British monarch has addressed both houses of Congress. The last time that happened was in 1991 when Charles’ mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II was in Washington as a guest of the late President George H.W. Bush.
Charles will be the guest of honor on Tuesday evening, following his speech at a State Dinner hosted by Trump and First Lady Melania Trump at the White House.
Britain’s King Charles III delivers an address to a joint meeting of Congress at the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday. The king and Queen Camilla are on a four-day state visit to the U.S. with stops in Washington and New York. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo
