UK and US 'always found ways to come together', King Charles to tell Congress — BBC News

[0:00] king charles is expected to call on countries to stand together to defend democratic values [0:05] when he addresses congress later today the king and queen camilla are in washington on a historic [0:11] four-day state visit the first by a british monarch in nearly two decades well during his [0:16] speech the king's also expected to underline the importance of the long-standing alliance between [0:21] the uk and the us at a time of diplomatic strain between the two nations well our senior royal [0:27] correspondent daniela ralph begins our coverage with this report from washington as far as uk us [0:36] alliances go this one was looking pretty friendly the presidential hosts greeted their royal guests [0:43] at the white house there were no signs of a troubled diplomatic relationship this was a king's first [0:49] state visit to america as monarch and president trump is hosting his first state visit of his second term [0:56] in office there was time for afternoon tea and chat earl grey and a royal blend were served up [1:03] the king and queen were supposed to be here for around 20 minutes they ended up staying for more [1:09] than double that today the king will address congress in a speech designed to emphasize the spirit of [1:16] friendship in challenging times it's thought the king will reference topical issues including the [1:23] conflicts in ukraine and the middle east in so many royal speeches there is an element of having to read [1:30] between the lines addressing congress the king is expected to reference the fact that historically [1:36] america and britain haven't always been in agreement but that time and again the two countries have found [1:43] ways to come together at the british embassy came the familiar territory of a garden party amongst the guests [1:56] politicians charity workers and the olympian tom daly and for the queen there was also a chance to meet [2:03] some old friends i haven't seen you for a very long time hearing from survivors of jeffrey epstein [2:09] remains off the agenda for the king and queen this week on legal advice but at the embassy the queen [2:15] spent time with groups working for domestic violence and child protection organizations in the us i think of [2:23] course it has to be a choice for the individuals certainly for the king and queen as they come here [2:29] for this event i think certainly we all prioritize the voices of the victims and the survivors ensuring [2:35] that not only that they are heard but that progress is made in repairing systems that broke down that [2:40] failed them the friendly arrivals of yesterday moved to the more formal ceremonial elements today but state [2:47] visits are a mix of high diplomacy and personal chemistry before the day ended the king and queen [2:54] got a chance to look at the white house beehives including one shaped as a white house itself daniel [3:02] aralph bbc news washington let's get more on what we can expect through the day earlier india mctaggart [3:09] the royal correspondent at the telegraph joined me in the studio this is going to be the king's moment to [3:16] address a joint session of congress he is going to be more sort of overtly uh political than maybe [3:23] expected he's going to mention ukraine the middle east nato he's going to talk about his own service [3:29] in the royal navy which is very pointed considering that the trump administration have taken to mocking [3:35] our navy uh in recent months uh because of his reluctance to get involved in the iran war with trump [3:42] uh so there is going to be moments where the the king really can sort of reaffirm the shared democratic [3:49] values as he always does which is the soft diplomacy the royal family is so well known for um but also [3:55] sort of say you know these this is one of the greatest alliances in history and we should honor [4:00] that for the sort of shared global security not just for our security um i heard a comment from uh [4:07] someone a commentator earlier saying that president trump is infatuated with the british royalty but [4:14] he's not infatuated with our prime minister at the moment um how do you think uh king charles's visit [4:21] can help um reset some of that relationship i think trump views them very separately i mean if he doesn't [4:28] pick up the phone to starmer he will always listen to the king and i think this is the opportunity for the [4:33] king to sort of bend trump's ear on on certain issues that he and starmer haven't been seeing eye to eye [4:40] on you know i think it's been hailed as much a rescue mission of the special relationship as it is [4:45] a celebratory event for the 250 years of american independence so i think this really is an opportunity [4:51] for the king to move the needle as he has done previously with trump uh particularly on ukraine which [4:58] the king feels very strongly about so i think that this is a very historic moment the joint address of [5:03] congress will be the political moment his speech at the white house dinner later on is more of a [5:09] light-hearted joke-filled love letter to the us sort of 250 years after it cut ties with charles's [5:15] ancestor george iii and i was uh reading somewhere that this trip was all already in the books even [5:21] before president trump returned to office so this is something that was planned for the anniversary yes [5:26] exactly i mean again whoever the the president was at this time there was always going to be [5:32] a big state visit to mark the 250 years as the queen went at the 200 year anniversary which was [5:40] a glitzy event that was an enormous success so this was always going to be in the works but trump is [5:46] definitely going to be very grateful that it's under his presidency oh let's talk about what we saw there [5:52] a survivor of jeffrey epstein's abuse of course there are many who'll be listening to the king's address [5:58] in congress who wants um the former prince andrew to answer questions of course he denies any wrongdoing [6:06] but there is a lot of pressure on the royal family over um the former prince uh prince's relationship [6:12] with jeffrey epstein and his friendship absolutely this is a thorny issue that they can't escape stateside [6:17] either um there will be we understand demonstrations and a mock tea party being held by epstein survivors [6:26] the king and queen did make it clear that they are unable to meet with epstein survivors because they [6:31] don't want to jeopardize the ongoing investigations happening in the uk relating to uh the king's younger [6:37] sibling um and i think it definitely is an issue that doesn't seem to be going away for them [6:43] the queen met with domestic violence campaigners yesterday at the garden party that was her way of [6:49] showing support she is championing this cause she has done lifelong um so i think that their stance [6:57] legally that they didn't want to jeopardize the case they said that was in the best interest of the [7:02] survivors so i suppose whether that's going to fly in the us is a different story and as we heard i don't [7:09] think many survivors are happy about it and they just want that recognition from someone in power [7:16] from our head of state that this is an issue that he is taking very seriously and i believe it is you [7:23] know the palace have said they will cooperate with the investigation into andrew as much as it takes as [7:28] long as it takes so i think that they are doing what they can india mctaggart there and there's plenty [7:35] more on the bbc news website and we will of course be following that royal visit throughout the day here