Do the royals get enough credit?
The royal family's allure to world leaders shouldn't be underestimated
Hello everyone, it’s Emily here with my weekly newsletter.
It will soon be time to deck The Mall with the Stars and Stripes or dust off the golf course at Windsor Castle in preparation for Marine One to land.
Or perhaps prepare picnics and walks at Balmoral or even a visit to Dumfries House? Both are a relatively short hop from the President Trump’s Turnberry golf course in Scotland and offer him access to the royal family he so admires.
Either way, he will make history as the first US leader to be honoured with a second State Visit to the UK, having accepted a personal invitation signed by King Charles and hand delivered in the Oval Office by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.
It was an extraordinary moment to watch – the President’s obvious delight as he read the letter – and Sir Keir’s upbeat chatter about how unprecedented this was – all conveying a harmonious scene that will have left Government officials breathing a sigh of relief after a tumultuous few weeks in world affairs.
But for me it really underlined the value of having a royal family, with its unique cachet and place in history, to lay on a charm offensive par excellence.
It got me thinking about President Trump’s last State Visit, when the late Queen welcomed him and the First Lady in spectacular style at Buckingham Palace.