Catherine’s job was to entertain and please the President of the United States – oh to have been a fly on the wall…
Donald Trump’s second state visit is now over.
It consisted of pomp and pageantry at Windsor Castle and then the pure politicking at Chequers, but was it a success? Our experts – Ian Dunt, Jennie Bond and Kitty Donaldson – offer their perspectives.
It was a magnificent pantomime, complete with a larger-than-life villain, an elderly King and a handsome Prince Charming with his dazzling wife. And it was all the more bizarre because it took place behind a closed curtain in case the audience booed and hissed.
The ceremonial part of Trump’s state visit (and boy, did they ramp up the frills and the froth) was performed as if they were making a TV movie. Set against the dramatic backdrop of Windsor, the oldest inhabited castle in the world, everything was a photo opportunity – which is how Trump likes things.
The crowds gathered outside the castle hoping for a glimpse of the President and his entourage – or at least a look at The Beast, his armour-plated limousine – were sorely disappointed.
He arrived by helicopter and was welcomed by the Prince and Princess of Wales. “You look beautiful,” the Donald intoned to the Princess. Luckily, Melania’s hat was so huge that kissing was out of the question.
The Princess of Wales is the jewel in the crown at events such as this. She is, indeed, a beautiful woman, but she also carries with her a dignity and star power that can outshine the rest of them. Since her cancer treatment, her appearances have a rarity value, which means they have an even greater impact. So Trump was undoubtedly duly flattered that she played such a key part in the day, and sat next to him at the banquet.
Oh, to have been a fly on the wall in that splendid vaulted hall! Catherine’s job was to entertain and please the President of the United States, without uttering one word that could be misconstrued or prove controversial. Keep it safe, keep it bland and hope to god this maverick man doesn’t say anything too wild.
The King, seated on the other side of Trump, is well-practised in the art of diplomatic tightrope-walking. But for the Princess, a middle-class girl from Berkshire, the learning curve must have been steep. These days, however, Catherine exudes confidence along with her innate charm.
The whole day – involving 1,300 service men and women, 120 horses, 200 musicians, ornate carriages and a display by the Red Arrows – was the clearest demonstration of our constitutional monarchy carrying out the bidding of its government. This is what we pay our Royal Family to do: exercise their soft power on the orders of the politicians of the day.
As well as all the pageantry, the monarch must have these people to stay in their home – no matter what they think of them.
In 1978, the late Queen Elizabeth II had to host Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu and his wife at Buckingham Palace. The word was that he was not only controversial, but quite light-fingered. All the valuables were removed from his suite as a precaution. The morning after the state banquet, the Queen was walking her corgis in the Palace gardens when, to her horror, she saw her guests taking a stroll. She hid behind a bush so that she didn’t have to talk to them any longer.
But on official duty, the Royal Family’s masks stay firmly in place, and for the most part, we have no idea what they are thinking. There were just one or two wry looks from Charles during the banquet speech.
One was when Trump said he hoped no other president would be given two state visits, and the other was when he praised the King’s “remarkable son”. I thought I saw a fleeting look of alarm that Trump might be about to say something about Harry – that would have obliterated every other headline.
The King and his family were told to do everything possible to cement this much-heralded “special relationship” with the US. If, like some of us, they wondered why on earth this President was given the unprecedented honour of two state visits, they didn’t give any hint.
That, after all, was a purely political decision and nothing to do with the King.
Jennie Bond was the BBC’s royal correspondent for 14 years
Perspectives
Donald Trump’s state visit: the verdict