King Charles worried Trump will stoke migration fears
King Charles III is “very concerned” that President Donald Trump could launch into an unfiltered rant about immigration while standing alongside him during his state visit to the United Kingdom in September.
A civil servant also told the Daily Beast that there was a risk Trump could upend protocol and make politicized comments when delivering a traditional speech at his state banquet.
Trump claimed a “horrible invasion” of migrants was “killing Europe” while visiting Scotland on Friday, a friend of the monarch told the Daily Beast.
The palace was already anxious about Trump’s visit because of his trolling of Canada—a British “realm” which counts the king as head of state—as the “51st state.”
But those concerns pale in comparison to the prospect of Trump using the official visit with the king as a platform to make further inflammatory remarks about immigration in the U.K.
Immigration has become a source of increasingly bitter division and public protest in the U.K. in recent months after figures showed that record numbers of so-called “small boats” laden with undocumented immigrants have landed on British shores this year.
There are genuine fears that riots triggered by anti-immigration protests could engulf the U.K. in the coming weeks. Hotels used to house migrants have seen violent protests flare, and Nigel Farage, the Reform U.K. leader credited with making Brexit happen, has warned that Britain is close to “civil disobedience on a vast scale” over the issue.
It was in this environment that, shortly after touching down on Air Force One at Glasgow Airport on Friday, Trump told waiting reporters on the tarmac: “You better get your act together or you’re not going to have Europe anymore. You’ve got to stop this horrible invasion that is happening to Europe, many countries in Europe.”
“Some leaders have not let it happen, and they’re not getting the proper credit,” Trump added. “I could name them to you right now, but I’m not going to embarrass the other ones. But stop, this immigration is killing Europe.”
The friend of the king told The Royalist, “Charles has spent his entire life promoting tolerance and compassion. He will be appalled by what Trump said on Friday, which seems to be entirely driven by his domestic agenda, and will be very concerned about the possibility of a repeat of Trump’s outburst in September.”
A civil servant told the Daily Beast that foreign visitors meeting the king are routinely advised that he is constitutionally apolitical and should not be involved in political controversy but said, “The trouble with Trump is, he doesn’t feel bound by the rules.”
The civil servant said the risks of Trump freewheeling with the media during the state visit were “priced in.” They said everything would be done to ensure the king would not be put in a position where he could be embarrassed.
The civil servant added, “Parliament is not sitting, so he won’t be making an inflammatory speech to MPs. But, of course, he will make a speech and propose toasts at the banquet in his honor. Usually, these speeches are ceremonial diplomacy of the highest order and honor the relationship between the two nations. The one group of people Trump seems to respect is the British royal family, so we will just have to hope for the best.”
The king does not typically give a formal, joint press conference with visiting foreign leaders, but it is Trump’s habit of delivering impromptu interviews to the media that has the king’s pals worried.
“If Trump starts sounding off about the evils of immigration to the cameras while the king is standing next to him, the king would find that hard to take,” the friend added.
The king had invited Trump for an informal visit to his country home, Balmoral, in a private letter which Trump flashed to the cameras after receiving it from British PM Keir Starmer.
Trump snubbed the king’s idea, detailed in the letter, of a private visit, after making clear “that his preference was for a full state visit first, which would not be overshadowed by an informal handshake picture.”
A former courtier told The Daily Beast at the time: “It’s embarrassing for the palace, which sent the letter suggesting that there was going to be this cozy, informal visit first, but it looks like Trump saw that for what it was: an attempt to kick the can down the road. Given the general anxiety around the king’s health, you can understand where Trump is coming from.”
The Times previously reported that the Palace “raised concerns” about Trump’s inflammatory statements that Canada should become the 51st state, arguing that “impugning the king’s sovereignty” as head of state of Canada was a reason to proceed slowly.
King Charles’ office has been contacted for comment.
King Charles is exhausted by cancer
The Trump visit is still several weeks away, but aides are already considering the best way to adapt plans to mitigate stress on the king, who will face several days of public engagements and some late nights.
King Charles has been left “exhausted” by the challenges of his ongoing cancer treatment and his punishing work schedule that he refuses to compromise on, sources have told The Royalist.
The friends who spoke to the Daily Beast are concerned that the king is pushing himself too hard—a worry shared by his wife, Queen Camilla, their friends say.
One friend said that the king had been left “saddened” by recent publicity in the London Sunday Times the saw a “rare disagreement with staff” at the garden of his private home, Highgrove, get “blown up into front page news.”
The source said, “He is exhausted. It is tricky because he is energized by the work, but he needs to take a break. Camilla wants him to slow down, but he won’t.”
The war of Royal Lodge is over
King Charles has lost his war aimed at forcing his disgraced brother, Prince Andrew, to move out of Royal Lodge. That is the real story behind news in the Daily Mail today that Prince William and Princess Kate are to move out of “cozy” Adelaide Cottage into the much grander Fort Belvedere, a castle on the Windsor grounds where King Edward VIII famously signed his abdication papers.
The king’s badly managed plan to kick Andrew out of Royal Lodge, which was widely briefed to U.K. newspapers, hit the skids when Andrew produced a lease showing he was legally entitled to stay there. Doh!
He lives in the gigantic home with his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson.
