King Charles III gave the speech of his life to Congress on Tuesday, March 28. Digging deep into his family history, his Christian faith and his hopes for ties between America and Britain, King Charles’ speech was originally planned to celebrate America’s 250th birthday. It could ultimately save the world’s most consequential alliance.
Britain was once undisputedly America’s greatest ally. But Britain’s recent stumbles over Iran and trade have angered President Donald Trump and left 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 no one else can,” Trump said of Charles on Sunday.
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King Charles made history as the second British monarch to address Congress, after his mother, the late Queen Elizabeth, did so for the first time in 1991. (Henry Nicholls/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)
Most moving was the king’s speech about ties with America within his own family. He recalled his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, addressing Congress in 1991 “under the watchful eye of the Statue of Liberty,” as the king said. He also told 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 US-Great Britain alliance saved the world from German dictator Adolf Hitler.
As Charles, he reported “disastrous melting of the ice caps” and noted 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 tackle some current issues head-on. Here were five of his most powerful points.
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1. Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Starmer’s stumbles over Iran policy and access to US bases in Diego Garcia have caused real damage. Charles dealt with the Starmer problem very neatly, with a single reference: ‘As my Prime Minister said last month: ‘Our partnership is an indispensable partnership. We should not ignore everything that has kept us going for the past 80 years.” Translation: the king says this too shall pass.
2. Increased defense spending. Charles welcomed increased defense spending in the face of dangerous threats. “That is why, to be fit for the future, our country has committed to the largest sustainable increase in defense spending since the Cold War,” the king said. “Our defense, intelligence and security ties are linked through relationships that are measured not in years, but in decades,” the King noted. So true. The bottom line is that the US needs Britain firmly in our camp to combat long-term threats from China.
3. Submarines and F-35s. Charles reminded Congress that Britain was an original partner in the F-35 stealth fighter jet program when it launched more than three decades ago. That was fitting, as a detachment of Royal Air Force F-35s helped defend Gulf states from Iran’s recent attacks and shot down Iranian drones. On submarines, Charles has plugged in AUKUS: the Australia-Britain-US nuclear submarine production partnership, which is all the more important given China’s growing naval and nuclear arsenal.
4. Technical prosperity. Trade and technology have been a major point of contention, so Charles made sure to subtly talk about the importance of these ties. US tech titans have been very generous to Britain, investing more than $200 billion in technology 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 the British are still chattering about their Digital Services Act, which disproportionately burdens large American companies. “If they don’t drop the tax, we will likely impose a high tariff on Britain,” Trump recently warned. Charles was wise to recognize that US investment will give Britain a chance in AI, quantum computing, etc.
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5. Easter hope. “I am aware that we are still in the Easter season, the season that most strengthens my hope,” Charles said. Charles is Supreme Governor of the Church of England, and fidei defender – defender of the faith. Monarchs have held this title since 1546, after King Henry VIII broke with Rome. The Church of England celebrates 50 days of Easter between the resurrection and the day Jesus ascended into heaven, known as Pentecost. Easter is the season of renewal and Charles poignantly chose this theme to express his confidence in America’s ties with Britain.
Americans sometimes wonder why we worry about the rest of the world. King Charles reminded us that faithful friendship can be freedom’s greatest ally.
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