Nothing could disguise Donald Trump's delight when he waved a personal invitation from the king for a historic second state visit. Keir Starmer had retrieved the letter from his jacket pocket and handed it to the US president with the dramatic flourish of Neville Chamberlain's "I have in my hand a piece of paper" moment.
From Trump's gleeful response, there was no doubt: in weaponising the Windsors, the prime minister had played a blinder.
Monarchists have long argued the soft power of royalty is among its greatest assets. From George VI being dispatched to schmooze President Roosevelt before the second world war, to Queen Elizabeth II wooing Dublin in Gaelic on her 2011 visit, this is what they do - at the behest of government. They have little say in it. State visits are decided by a committee comprising Foreign Office and Buckingham Palace officials, said Dr Craig Prescott, a constitutional expert at Royal Holloway, University of London, and author of the forthcoming Modern Monarchy.
"But fundamentally these are decisions made by the government to pursue its diplomatic objectives."
この記事は The Guardian の March 01, 2025 版に掲載されています。
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この記事は The Guardian の March 01, 2025 版に掲載されています。
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