{"id":27059,"date":"2026-05-02T08:55:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-02T08:55:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/27059\/"},"modified":"2026-05-02T08:55:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-02T08:55:11","slug":"how-king-charles-won-over-anti-monarchists-and-haters-in-less-than-twenty-minutes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/27059\/","title":{"rendered":"How King Charles won over anti-monarchists and haters in less than twenty minutes"},"content":{"rendered":"

The omens weren\u2019t exactly auspicious. In the build-up to King Charles\u2019s address to the US Congress<\/a>, the royal family has weathered some of the most scathing headlines in living memory, many of them focusing on the monarch\u2019s younger brother, Andrew, and his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. <\/p>\n

The question of whether Charles would meet Epstein\u2019s victims, too, has hung over his visit to the States like a dark cloud. And then there was the not-so-small matter of President Trump\u2019s scornful assessment of Sir Keir Starmer\u2019s leadership abilities, not least that Churchill-invoking slight that seemed emblematic of the dire health of the \u201cspecial relationship\u201d. <\/p>\n

So when the King stepped up to the podium, with vice-president JD Vance and a room full of Republican and Democrat political heavyweights looking on, expectations were not, shall we say, high. In fact, just before the King set off across the Atlantic, an IPSOS poll suggested that only one-third of Brits believed that his visit could have a positive impact. The best we could hope for, it seemed, would be business as usual, the sort of polite diplomatic soothing that royals can deliver in their sleep. <\/p>\n

But over the half hour that followed, something truly remarkable happened. Speaking with a bold sense of purpose and glint in his eye, Charles, the first royal to address Congress in 35 years, managed to pull off the impossible. A speech that won over some of the royal\u2019s most sceptical critics. As one BBC commentator observed: \u201cIt was like watching the underdog winning the cup against all expectations.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was also a charm offensive that was laced with deliciously understated rejoinders to Trump. They were disguised cleverly enough to avoid puncturing the pride of a notoriously prickly president \u2013 and avoid yet another Truth Social meltdown. While the president has recently seen fit to unleash tirades at the Pope, there was no ire directed at King Charles after his gentle jibing. Indeed, Trump later called the speech \u201cgreat\u201d and even joked that he was \u201cjealous\u201d of Charles\u2019s performance. <\/p>\n

There were pointed references to the importance of Nato, to the need to defend \u201cUkraine and its most courageous people\u201d, and to the British Navy, whose \u201cold\u201d warships Trump so recently mocked. As the speech reached a powerful conclusion, the King seemed to subtly remind the president that words have consequences. \u201cAmerica\u2019s words carry weight and meaning, as they have since independence,\u201d he said. \u201cThe actions of this great nation matter even more.\u201d <\/p>\n

Charles was met with rapturous applause \u2013 and 12 standing ovations (his message was only meant to last 20 minutes, but the clapping ended up stretching out the run time). But what is perhaps most striking about his address is the way it has resonated not just with the King\u2019s staunch supporters, but with those who are usually unenamoured by the monarchy. <\/p>\n

\"Vice-presidentVice-president JD Vance, left, looked on as Charles gave his speech (Reuters)<\/p>\n

Take this from Alistair Campbell, a staunch republican (in the British sense), for instance. \u201cExcellent speech by King Charles,\u201d he wrote on Twitter\/X, praising his \u201cclarion cry for Ukraine, for Nato, for nature and the environment, for democracy and the checks on power.\u201d His ultimate verdict. \u201cI loved it. Loved the confidence in British and American values.\u201d <\/p>\n

Emily Maitlis, the journalist whose notorious Newsnight interview catalysed the downfall of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, was similarly effusive. \u201cHe did a sort of Love Actually speech, but written by Plato,\u201d she said on The News Agents podcast. <\/p>\n

Meanwhile, those tuning in at home like Ann, a lifelong anti-monarchist from Nottingham, found themselves charmed. \u201cI am no royalist \u2013 in fact, the opposite, sometimes I\u2019d like to get rid of the lot of them,\u201d she says. \u201cBut Charles was good. Very good. The content was excellent, the delivery was perfect, not his usual plumminess.\u201d He was, she adds, \u201cfunny\u201d and managed to get his points across \u201cin a really, very British way\u201d. <\/p>\n

So has Charles finally worked out how to win over his detractors \u2013 and step out from his mother\u2019s shadow, and do things differently, but just as effectively? <\/p>\n

His speech may have shown anti-royalists \u201cthe point of what a monarch can do,\u201d suggests historian and royal biographer Hugo Vickers, \u201cwhich is that it\u2019s nothing to do with party politics. It\u2019s about the United Kingdom and taking the long view, a diplomatic view, about the long-term special alliance between America and England,\u201d Vickers says. <\/p>\n

When the late Queen Elizabeth addressed Congress in 1991, she was wholly positive in her approach, opting for a \u201cconciliatory\u201d tone. Charles has taken a more strident tack. It is certainly difficult to imagine his mother referring so directly to contentious international issues such as the Ukraine conflict and Trump\u2019s scorn for Nato. \u201c[Elizabeth] didn\u2019t have to do that because relations were pretty good and she was just reinforcing it,\u201d Vickers says, adding. \u201cWe\u2019re living in a politically sensitive time, and this was where the king really excelled himself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Understated sense of humour, seems to have played a big part in the speech\u2019s success, too, with the King poking gentle fun at Britain\u2019s bizarre traditions and quoting Oscar Wilde to mock our differences \u201cin language\u201d. The New York Times even went so far as to claim that Charles \u201cworked the House Chamber like a stand-up comedian\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe King received 12 standing ovations during his speech (Getty)<\/p>\n

While it wasn\u2019t exactly Live at the Apollo, drawing upon the very British ritual of taking the mickey seemed designed to appeal to viewers on his own side of the Atlantic as much as the politicians in front of him. As the historian Andrew Lownie, author of a scathingly critical biography of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, put it, the address was \u201cin the great British tradition of using humour to deliver criticism\u201d. <\/p>\n

The broadcaster Andrew Marr was similarly full of praise, willing to do an about turn on his preconceptions of the royals\u2019 US visit. \u201cIt really was an excellent speech,\u201d he told The Independent. \u201cI had to apologise to my listeners yesterday, because I was against this visit from the beginning, but after hearing that speech I had to admit I was wrong.\u201d <\/p>\n

I was against this visit from the beginning, but after hearing that speech I had to admit I was wrong<\/p>\n

Andrew Marr<\/p>\n

The king\u2019s reference to Magna Carta \u2013 and it being \u201cthe foundation of the principle that executive power is subject to checks and balances, which received particularly strong applause \u2013 stood out for particular admiration from Marr. \u201cHe got the bit about the Magna Carta exactly right, so much so that he got applause from both sides of the House; that was really something,\u201d he said. \u201cThat was a very fine and delicate line to tread, and he did it perfectly.\u201d <\/p>\n

Perhaps the most surprising source of support for the King\u2019s speech, though? The younger generation, who aren\u2019t known for being flag-waving monarchists. In 2023, a YouGov poll found that less than one-third of Gen Z respondents believe the royal family is good for Britain. Yet Chloe Combi, an expert in Gen Z and Gen Alpha, has found that this particular address chimed with their own sense of \u201cyouthful anger at the Trump administration\u201d. <\/p>\n

\"PresidentPresident Trump didn\u2019t appear to be bothered by any of the subtle rejoinders in Charles\u2019s address (PA)<\/p>\n

In his references to the UK and the US\u2019s \u201cvibrant, diverse and free societies\u201d and \u201cthe overreach of the rule of law\u201d, they saw Charles as willing to speak out in defence of vulnerable groups, say Chloe. <\/p>\n

Plus, Charles has a reputation as \u201ca climate aware person\u201d, and the need to protect the environment acted as something of a refrain throughout. \u201cLots of governments have really deprioritised green issues, which remain quite important to young people.\u201d What\u2019s particularly striking, though, is that while so many attempts \u201cto try to package\u201d the younger royals to appeal to Gen Z \u201chave kind of failed\u201d, Combi says, \u201cthey\u2019ve responded to a much older member\u201d of the family. <\/p>\n

At the grand age of 77, Charles appears to have finally found his voice. Whether his newly converted fans continue to listen remains to be seen. But, for now, we have been reminded why there was little doubt behind palace walls that this trip should go ahead. <\/p>\n

As one reader of Lownie\u2019s surprising words of praise replied: \u201cIt was succour for the relationship, the American Resistance and the world. Superb; Charles met the moment of a lifetime in the grand Churchillian tradition.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The omens weren\u2019t exactly auspicious. In the build-up to King Charles\u2019s address to the US Congress, the royal…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":27060,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[7837,5809,12072,5,6,12073],"class_list":{"0":"post-27059","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uk","8":"tag-pa2026","9":"tag-royalty","10":"tag-state-visit-to-the-us-day-four-royal","11":"tag-uk","12":"tag-united-kingdom","13":"tag-wparota"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@UnitedKingdom\/116504148217583251","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27059","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=27059"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27059\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27060"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27059"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27059"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27059"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}