King Charles III delivered the speech of his life before Congress on Tuesday, March 28. Digging deep into his family history, his Christian faith and his hopes for the ties between America and Britain, the speech by King Charles was originally scheduled to celebrate America’s 250th birthday. It might end up saving the world’s most consequential alliance.
Great Britain was once indisputably America’s No. 1 ally. But Great Britain’s recent stumbles on Iran and on trade have angered President Donald Trump and put the alliance at its lowest point since the 1956 Suez Crisis.
This was the perfect moment for the first address to Congress by a British monarch since 1991. "He represents his nation like nobody else can do," Trump said of Charles on Sunday.
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Most moving was the king’s talk of ties to America within his own family. He remembered his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, who spoke to Congress in 1991 "under the watchful eye of the statue of Freedom," as the king said. He also recounted how his grandfather, King George VI and his grandmother Queen Elizabeth, later the Queen Mother, had visited America in 1939 as World War II loomed. What an eloquent, personal reminder of how the U.S.-U.K. alliance saved the world from German dictator Adolf Hitler.
Being Charles, he did throw in a mention of "disastrously melting icecaps" and remarked that in prehistory "the mountains of Scotland and Appalachia were one." Who knew, but it explains a lot. However, Charles was also bold enough to take on several hot-button issues directly. Here were five of his most powerful points.
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1. Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Starmer’s stumbles on Iran policy and U.S. base access at Diego Garcia have done real damage. Charles dispatched the Starmer problem quite neatly, with a single reference: "As my prime minister said last month: ‘Ours is an indispensable partnership. We must not disregard everything that has sustained us for the last 80 years.’" Translation: the king says this too shall pass.
2. Increased defense spending. Charles applauded increased defense spending in the face of dangerous threats. "That is why our country, in order to be fit for the future, has committed to the biggest sustained increase in defense spending since the Cold War," the king said. "Our defense, intelligence and security ties are hard-wired together through relationships measured not in years, but in decades," the king noted. So true. The bottom line is that the U.S. needs Great Britain firmly in our camp to combat the long-haul threats from China.
3. Submarines and F-35s. Charles reminded Congress that Great Britain was an original partner on the F-35 stealth fighter jet program when it started over 30 years ago. That was fitting, as a Royal Air Force detachment of F-35s helped defend Gulf states against Iran’s recent attacks and shot down Iranian drones. As for submarines, Charles put in a plug for AUKUS – the Australia, United Kingdom, U.S. cooperation on nuclear submarine production, which is all the more important given China’s growing navy and nuclear arsenal.
4. Tech prosperity. Trade and tech have been a huge bone of contention, so Charles made sure to speak subtly about the importance of these ties. U.S. tech titans have been very generous to Britain, investing over $200 billion in tech projects to help Britain catch up. This is real money: $30 billion from Microsoft for supercomputing, $54 billion from Amazon for infrastructure and cloud computing, $6 billion for Google data centers. Yet Britons are still clanging on about their Digital Services Act, which taxes big American companies disproportionately. "If they don’t drop the tax, we’ll probably put a big tariff on the U.K.," Trump warned recently. Charles was wise to acknowledge that U.S. investment will give Britain a chance in AI, quantum computing, etc.
5. Easter hope. "I am mindful that we are still in the season of Easter, the season that most strengthens my hope," Charles said. Charles is supreme governor of the Church of England, and fidei defensor – defender of the faith. Monarchs have held that title since 1546, after King Henry VIII broke with Rome. The Church of England observes 50 days of Easter between the resurrection and the day Jesus ascended to heaven, known as Pentecost. Easter is the season of renewal and Charles poignantly chose this theme to express his faith in America’s ties to Great Britain.
Americans sometimes wonder why we bother with the rest of the world. King Charles gave us a reminder that staunch friendship can be the greatest ally of freedom.
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