There’s a “special relationship” between the United States and the United Kingdom that both leaders celebrated Wednesday night.
King Charles III and President Donald Trump gave speeches during the state banquet at Windsor Castle, People reported.
“I cannot help but wonder what our forebears from 1776 would make of this friendship today,” the King, 76, said of President George Washington and King George III. “Today, however, we celebrate a relationship between our two countries that surely neither Washington nor King George III could possibly have imagined.”
Trump also spoke of the bond the two countries share.
“His Majesty spoke eloquently about the bond which inspired Sir Winston Churchill – the bust is in the Oval Office right now – the beautiful bust of Winston Churchill, to coin the phrase ‘special relationship,’ but seen from American eyes, the word ‘special’ does not begin to do it justice,” the president, 79, said, Fox News reported. “We’re joined by history and fate, by love and language and by transcendent ties of culture, tradition, ancestry and destiny.”
A different kind of relationship provided some levity when King Charles talked about his first visit to the U.S. in 1970 when Richard Nixon was president, per People.
“Had the media succeeded in the 1970s in their own attempt at deepening the special relationship, I myself might have been married off within the Nixon family,” he joked, referring to Tricia Nixon, President Nixon’s daughter.
Trump called the state banquet “one of the highest honors of my life.”
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Trump became the first elected political leader in modern times to be invited for two state visits by a British monarch. The first one was in June 2019 during his first the as president.
Trump also lauded King Charles for his philanthropic work, saying, “I just stood in line and shook about 150 hands, and the King knew every single person…or at least I think he did because no one was complaining. I was very impressed with that.”
Banquet attendees included first lady Melania Trump, Queen Camilla, Prince William and Princess Katherine.
