King Charles - The Best Speech Ever

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tdgeek

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#324575 29-Apr-2026 19:24

The Monarchy is apolitical but the class, delivery in todays highly political world was outstanding

I didnt start this thread in the Politics thread for the above reason.

Being able to be neutral and classy, he did make indirect political orations, aka Trump issues

6 standing ovations, one long.

Hopefully it will make leaders and the US public wake up

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I embraced the reference to Ukraine

roobarb

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#3485666 29-Apr-2026 22:13

King Charles - The Best Speech Ever

... and it isn't even Christmas!

Oceans rise. Empires fall.

...

Da da da dat da dat da da da da ya da
Da da dat dat da ya da!
Da da da dat da dat da da da da ya da,
Da da dat dat da ya...

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#3485680 30-Apr-2026 06:36

not hard to have a good speech at the WH, you just need to string together a few sentences that contain different words and a primary school teacher can be happy with.

but now that it's mentioned, it will add it to my to-watch list!

robjg63

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#3485734 30-Apr-2026 10:37

Great speech - agreed....

I doubt the primary recipient was either listening or would have understood the messages.

Today the USA and UK are the best of friends (again) - tomorrow we ridicule their armed services etc and start talking about Argentina taking over the Falklands again.

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roobarb

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#3485758 30-Apr-2026 12:22

Well done, that man.

Before the visit there were many calls to cancel it, but taking the higher ground was the better option after all.

After the US "no kings" marches, I drew the analogy that Trump is "The Steward of Gondor", the president is merely a temporary care-taker of the nation. Long gone is "L'État, c'est moi".

The monarch in the UK is also the head of the armed forces, the Prime Minister may make the decision to go to war but has to formally ask the monarch in order to use the military. Likewise, they aren't draft dodgers, the King and his brothers served in the navy, and the spares have been sent into combat. Prince Edward served in the Royal Marines (part of the navy) and also on HMS Pinafore.

Trump likes to name everything after himself, and the king played the game well giving him the original ship's bell to HMS Trump

I think it was very well received and many got the message.

I am not religious so I will say "Long live the King".

mattwnz

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#3485796 30-Apr-2026 15:22

You could see he really enjoyed the speech. I do wonder how many in the audience actually understood it all.

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#3485818 30-Apr-2026 16:34

roobarb:

Trump likes to name everything after himself, and the king played the game well giving him the original ship's bell to HMS Trump

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Dingbatt

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#3486042 1-May-2026 09:13

roobarb:

The monarch in the UK is also the head of the armed forces, the Prime Minister may make the decision to go to war but has to formally ask the monarch in order to use the military. Likewise, they aren't draft dodgers, the King and his brothers served in the navy, and the spares have been sent into combat. Prince Edward served in the Royal Marines (part of the navy) and also on HMS Pinafore.

This is a somewhat generous interpretation of the Monarchy’s role in the UK military. Largely their role is ceremonial. The King refusing to allow the will of the duly elected government to be carried out would cause a constitutional crisis.

National Service, Britain’s equivalent of “The Draft”, ended in 1960. There is an expectation that each member of the royal family will take up at least a ceremonial military rank. So the “Draft” is a family tradition rather than an Act of Parliament. Participation in actual military roles have generally been the minimum needed to “tick the box”. Understandable, they have other royal duties to carry out.

Andrew (The As….le formerly known as Prince) and Prince Harry are the only ones to see active service. My understanding is Andrew’s role in the Falklands Conflict was in a SeaKing helicopter that was “danger adjacent” and even Harry’s role as an Apache crewman in Afghanistan was somewhat protected. It is entirely understandable. The propaganda implications of a member of the royal family being killed, injured or captured far outweighed their actual contribution.

Prince Edward’s contribution immediately makes me think about the troupe of entertainers in “Ain’t Half Hot Mum”.

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ezbee

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#3486068 1-May-2026 10:14

At least it shows that old people can make speeches with a comprehension age substantially over 4 years.
Its not automatic for age to make you egregiously mean, nasty and obnoxious.
Subtlety may be lost on Americans though.

eracode

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#3486182 1-May-2026 11:24

roobarb:

Trump likes to name everything after himself, and the king played the game well giving him the original ship's bell to HMS Trump

I think it was very well received and many got the message.

I thought it was hilarious when he presented Trump with the bell, he jokingly said words to the effect of “… if you ever need to get hold of us, just give us a ring”.

More than slightly ironic (or whatever) in the light of Keir Starmer’s initial prevarication about US use of UK military bases at the start of the Iran conflict and UK’s subsequent declining of further assistance.

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networkn

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#3486225 1-May-2026 13:04

I mean, I thought it was fairly generic. He's quite funny, and spoke eloquently, but he didn't really say anything or challenge anything, the way Carney of Canada did, and that in my view is a far superior speech.

I am not an anti monarchist by any stretch, but this felt like exactly what I'd expect.

It felt the standing ovations were simply a function of politeness and respect. Nothing he said was particularly ovation worthy in my opinion.

YMMV

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#3486231 1-May-2026 13:17

i didn't find it interesting sorry. didn't finish the speech. watched the Pope's and Carney's interviews instead.

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#3486235 1-May-2026 13:31

mattwnz:

You could see he really enjoyed the speech. I do wonder how many in the audience actually understood it all.

Just under half of them......?

tdgeek

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#3486376 1-May-2026 18:49

networkn:

I mean, I thought it was fairly generic. He's quite funny, and spoke eloquently, but he didn't really say anything or challenge anything, the way Carney of Canada did, and that in my view is a far superior speech.

I am not an anti monarchist by any stretch, but this felt like exactly what I'd expect.

It felt the standing ovations were simply a function of politeness and respect. Nothing he said was particularly ovation worthy in my opinion.

YMMV

I get that, but Carney is a politician, Charles isnt, and is not allowed to be. But he used his apolitical and respected stance (despite having no power) to point the finger in a non political manner. Aimed at Trump who loves him, although it no doubt went over his head

The late Queen's speeches were very generic. Charles has taken a step forward, without going too forward

tdgeek

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#3486378 1-May-2026 18:52

huckster:

mattwnz:

You could see he really enjoyed the speech. I do wonder how many in the audience actually understood it all.

Just under half of them......?

Less than. When the support of Ukraine was made, another standing ovation, and Vance, clapping. Ukraine means jacksh!t to the US Government.

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#3487606 5-May-2026 09:38

roobarb:

Trump likes to name everything after himself, and the king played the game well giving him the original ship's bell to HMS Trump

This was akin to giving a toddler a drums kit for birthday without asking the parents first. I can imagine the orange man ringing the bell non-stop in the Oval office just to annoy the hell out of everyone.

Hello, Ground!