Hail to the chief? God save the King? This week, it's all the same.
For the past four days, King Charles III and Queen Camilla have staged their own British invasion of the United States in a state visit that has dominated headlines and news broadcasts at home and abroad as they mingle with President Donald Trump at black tie dinners, address Congress and get dissed by the mayor of New York City.
Considering the distinctly anti-monarchy roots of the U.S., it's been a whirlwind and whiplash in which someone still addressed as "your majesty" has been one of the biggest stories of the week. We may have once thrown off Charles' ancestors, but we were more than happy to welcome him with open arms, photo ops, parades and fervent press coverage.
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Charles, who is head of state but holds virtually no real power in the British government, is here with wife Camilla for multiple reasons. One is political, an investment in the "special relationship" between the U.S. and the U.K., a charm offensive and occasional rejoinder for Trump and his officials. The other is to put on a show, a spectacle, a week of entertainment for the masses on both sides of the pond. It's an advertisement for the British monarchy and reflects Trump's infatuation with pomp and circumstance, seen in everything from his "king" social media posts to the newly-gilded Oval Office. It's politics and it's theater, and while pundits can argue about the interpretations of Charles' words about NATO and the Magna Carta, the rest of us watching on our social media feeds and cable news get to make our own judgments about how entertaining this whole enterprise is.
Because in the end, what most Americans will take away from the Charles and Camilla's goodwill tour are feelings and impressions. And, barring a few jokes about speaking French and a somber wreath laying at the 9/11 memorial, the vibes are simply awkward, stilted and unsettled.
Americans, in spite of "give me liberty or give me death" in our history, are obsessed with the British royal family. A 2024 YouGov poll showed that our attachment is rooted in Princess Diana's global celebrity in the 1990s. A full 76% of Americans hold a favorably view of Diana, who died in 1997, and 67% had favorable feelings for Queen Elizabeth, who died in 2022.
Twenty-nine million Americans watched Prince Harry marry American actress Meghan Markle in 2018, according to Nielsen, and 23 million tuned in seven years prior to watch his older brother Prince William wed Kate Middleton. We woke up early as well for the funeral of Charles' mother Elizabeth II (11.4 million viewers in 2022) and Charles' coronation (10.9 million in 2023). (The biggest show on network TV right now, CBS's "Marshals," only gets about 7.8 million viewers week after week.)
We gobble up gossip about these marriages, watch in morbid fascination for updates about the arrest of Charles' brother Andrew in connection to the Jeffrey Epstein files, scroll through fashion galleries and blogs, spread conspiracy theories about the health of Princess Kate and buy books by the truckload purporting to offer an inside look at this private and prestigious family. We may champion our own democracy, but crave the glitz of our former overlords' monarchy with gusto.
But in spite of all that love for royalty, that same YouGov poll found only 42% of Americans view King Charles III favorably; Camilla clocks in at 30% approval. That disinterest and distaste was easy to see during the visit. Old and old-fashioned, Charles and Camilla do not offer vitality, romance or drama as representations of the house of Windsor. During the visit, Charles, 77, stood shoulder to shoulder with Trump, 79, in photos that symbolically represented the past more than the future. When Charles was set to come face to face with one of the brightest, youngest faces of American politics, New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, he was met with only a coldness and reminder of the crimes of British imperialism. Mamdani resisted royal fervor in his public statements and told the press he'd encourage Charles to return the Koh-i-Noor Diamond, a jewel held by the British crown but originally from India, and with a bloody colonial history.
In stiff suits and tuxedos, Charles and Camilla laid on their personal brand of charm, but it's hard not to feel like that charm is severely limited. While they've been stateside, Charles' son and heir apparent Prince William celebrated his 15th wedding anniversary with wife Princess Kate. The couple shared an idyllic photo to mark the occasion, cuddling in the grass with their young and beautiful children, Prince George, 12, Prince Louis, newly 8, and Princess Charlotte, 10 and their dog, Orla. All dappled sunshine and visible love, they represented the version of the royals that Americans (and many Brits) adore.
Charles and Camilla wrap up their four-day trip on April 30 with a trip to Virginia which will include an event marking the upcoming 250th anniversary of our country's violent divorce from theirs. Two and a half centuries after we said "thanks, but no thanks" to the idea of a king, we tepidly welcome the descendent of the very monarchy we rebelled against.
It's no dramatic episode of "The Crown," nor a captivating Princess Diana twirling circles around President Ronald Reagan in 1985. It's royal but routine, a box to be checked for our respective governments and a handful of public figures like Anna Wintour and Sarah Jessica Parker.
When they get on their plane back over the Atlantic, it might just be like they were never here at all.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Charles and Camilla put on a show for the US. We are not entertained.
