![\"British](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/9effcf09-54bc-4cb6-b3c2-bb364f50247d.jpg\")
<\/p>\nUS president says his late mother had a crush on the \u2018cute\u2019 monarch in his youth\n<\/p>\n
Mr Trump spoke passionately about the bonds between the two nations as he staged a ceremonial military welcome for Charles and Queen Camilla at the White House.<\/p>\n
Despite the recent tensions between the UK and US, Mr Trump, speaking from a podium on the South Lawn on the second day of the king\u2019s historic state visit, said: \u201cIn the centuries since we won our independence, Americans have had no closer friends than the British.\u201d<\/p>\n
And he paid tribute to the \u201cessence\u201d of the \u201cspecial relationship\u201d in the wake of World War II, saying: \u201cThat understanding of our nation\u2019s unique bond and role in history is the essence of our special relationship and we hope it will always remain that way.\u201d<\/p>\n
Charles\u2019s most diplomatically sensitive state visit to date comes amid a backdrop of criticism levelled by Mr Trump at British prime minister Keir Starmer over the war in Iran.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
British prime minister Keir Starmer<\/p>\n
Officials in Downing Street will be hoping the royal family\u2019s soft-power diplomacy can help heal the rift, and Mr Trump demonstrated his affection for the king during the formal welcome.<\/p>\n
She really did love the family but I also remember her saying very clearly, \u2018Charles, look young Charles, he\u2019s so cute\u2019<\/p>\n
He said it was a \u201ctremendous privilege to host\u201d Charles and Camilla, called the king a \u201cvery elegant man\u201d, praised the late Queen Elizabeth II as a \u201cvery special woman\u201d and revealed his mother, Mary, had a \u201ccrush\u201d on the king when he was younger.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe really did love the family but I also remember her saying very clearly, \u2018Charles, look young Charles, he\u2019s so cute\u2019,\u201d Mr Trump said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
US president Donald Trump salutes next to Britain’s King Charles during an arrival ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House yesterday. Photo: Reuters<\/p>\n
Today’s News in 90 Seconds – Wednesday, April 29 <\/p>\n
\u201cMy mother had a crush on Charles \u2013 can you believe it? Amazing how\u2026 I wonder what she\u2019s thinking right now.\u201d<\/p>\n
The president and US first lady Melania Trump staged an unprecedented military ceremony for their royal guests.<\/p>\n
Charles and Camilla watched the display in Washington DC with their hosts, alongside a group of invited dignitaries and hundreds of spectators.<\/p>\n
The royal couple arrived in Washington on Monday for the start of a four-day state visit to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.<\/p>\n
Later the king will tell Congress the story of the UK and US since America\u2019s independence is \u201cone of the greatest alliances in human history\u201d where the two nations find ways to \u201ccome together\u201d.<\/p>\n
![\"Charles](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/2.84433560.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Charles and Camilla are greeted by Donald and Melania Trump at the White House. Photo: PA<\/p>\n
Mr Trump said he wanted to watch the monarch\u2019s address in the Capitol in person, but had been warned it was not \u201cprotocol\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m going to be watching. I was thinking of going, but they said, \u2018I don\u2019t know, that might be a step too far\u2019,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would love to go. It\u2019s not supposed to be protocol, but I would love to be with you,\u201d he told Charles.<\/p>\n
Mr Trump, who has criticised Mr Starmer as being \u201cno Winston Churchill\u201d over the UK\u2019s response to US calls for support in the Iran conflict, repeatedly referred to wartime leader Churchill in his speech, calling him \u201cBritain\u2019s greatest prime minister\u201d.<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cBeneath those beautiful flags, eight decades ago, prime minister Winston Churchill and president Franklin Roosevelt famously met on a ship in the North Atlantic to outline a vision for the free world after World War II.<\/p>\n
They\u2019re incredible people and it\u2019s a real honour<\/p>\n
\u201cThat understanding of our nations\u2019 unique bond and role in history is the essence of our special relationship and we hope it will always remain that way.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also spoke of the two countries\u2019 shared values and close friendship, saying: \u201cIn the centuries since we won our independence, Americans have had no closer friends than the British. We share that same root. We speak the same language. We hold the same values and, together, our warriors have defended the same extraordinary civilisation under twin banners of red, white and blue.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Former](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/365f4978-fae3-4505-891e-0eade90fa76b.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Former British prime minister Winston Churchill got a mention<\/p>\n
He called the UK and the US the \u201ctwo most exceptional nations the world has ever known\u201d, adding: \u201cTogether, let us go forward with even stronger resolve to carry on our sacred devotion to liberty and to the traditions of excellence that have been our shared gift of all mankind.\u201d<\/p>\n
During the welcome ceremony, the king and queen stood on a dais with the president and first lady as the UK and US national anthems were played by the President\u2019s Own United States Marine Band. Nearby, a 21-gun salute was fired in tribute to the royal guests by the Presidential Salute Battery.<\/p>\n
Senior members of Mr Trump\u2019s administration were among the guests, including vice-president JD Vance and his wife, Usha, secretary of state Marco Rubio, war secretary Pete Hegseth and special peace envoy Steve Witkoff.<\/p>\n
Later, the king and president sat down for bilateral talks, and after the meeting, Mr Trump told the press: \u201cIt was a really good meeting. He\u2019s a fantastic person. They\u2019re incredible people and it\u2019s a real honour.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"US president says his late mother had a crush on the \u2018cute\u2019 monarch in his youth Mr Trump…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":24544,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[13,361,5427,94,1049,5630,6674,1518,37],"class_list":{"0":"post-24543","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-britain","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-donald-trump","10":"tag-jd-vance","11":"tag-keir-starmer","12":"tag-king-charles-iii","13":"tag-marco-rubio","14":"tag-melania-trump","15":"tag-queen-camilla","16":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@UnitedKingdom\/116486158602077850","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24543","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24543"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24543\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24544"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24543"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24543"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24543"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}