King Charles Urged to Do One Thing as Trump Uses State Visit as a ‘Badge of Validation’
As King Charles and Queen Camilla prepare for their first White House visit under President Trump, barrister Andrew Eborn says the latter will use every moment of the pomp and pageantry to his own advantage.
When King Charles and Queen Camilla touch down in the United States later this month, they will arrive carrying more diplomatic baggage than any royal visit in recent memory. The trip, which marks the 250th anniversary of American independence, is the couple's first visit to the White House under Donald Trump—and the stakes, according to those watching closely, could not be higher.
Barrister and commentator Andrew Eborn, speaking to Sky News, held nothing back in discussing what the visit is likely to mean in practice. particularly for the man on the other side of the handshake. "Trump himself will use this as a badge of validation," Eborn said. "Turning around and saying, 'Look, here is the royal family.' He might have problems with Keir Starmer and his wishy-washy approach, but he has a lot of respect for the Royal Family."
Relations between London and Washington have been visibly strained in recent months, with Starmer struggling to establish the kind of rapport with Trump that the moment demands. The Crown, Eborn suggested, offers something the prime minister simply cannot. A connection that sits above the turbulence of day-to-day politics. "If anybody could help preserve that relationship, then I think it's the Royal Family," he said. "This is what Trump loves—the pomp and ceremony."
Eborn, talking about Trump’s September visit to the UK, noted that Trump's affection for royal pageantry is well established and genuine. The president was warmly received during his visits to the UK and has spoken favorably of both the late Queen Elizabeth and the current King. That personal goodwill, Eborn argued, is precisely the asset Britain needs to deploy right now. "I think they should use this particular visit to reinforce and enhance our very, very special relationship with America," he said.
The Sky News presenter noted that calls have grown in some quarters for the visit to be canceled altogether, citing the volatile situation in Iran, the broader global uncertainty, and the unresolved shadow of the Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Jeffrey Epstein saga, with some victims publicly demanding a meeting with the king while he is on American soil.
However, Eborn was certain that such a meeting would most certainly not happen. The reason, he explained, is legal. Mountbatten-Windsor has been arrested—not in connection with the Epstein matter, but on a charge of misconduct in public office, which Eborn noted "carries up to life imprisonment in extraordinary circumstances." With due process underway, the rules around contempt of court are strict. "What we have is contempt of court," Eborn said. "When somebody has been arrested, and before the due process has happened, they can't do anything that might prejudice a fair trial."
