Thought I’d post King Charles’ speech from last night’s state banquet at the White House. Not as fascinating as his earlier address to Congress, more of a history lesson, but he still managed to deliver some good jokes (You recently commented, Mr President, that if it were not for the United States, European countries would be speaking German. Dare I say that, if it wasn’t for us, you’d be speaking French...!) And it’s good to see the king refer clearly to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It’s not some war that just happened for reasons nobody can work out.
Mr President, First Lady,
My wife and I are most grateful to you for your generous hospitality as the United States celebrates this very special anniversary year of the Declaration of Independence.
May I also start by paying tribute to your own courage and steadfastness, as well as to your security services for their swift actions on Saturday evening in preventing further injury. My thoughts and sympathies are with you, the First Lady and all those guests for whom this must have been a very upsetting incident. As the words of that famous anthem reminds us, this is the land of the free and home of the brave as your own response demonstrates. What used to be called in the last war in the United Kingdom, Keep Calm and Carry on.