The regal has landed: can Charles boost US bond?

King Charles’s first state visit to the United States as monarch arrives at a moment when the so-called special relationship between Britain and America is under its worst strain since the Suez crisis of 1956. The central question of this episode is whether a largely ceremonial monarch, with no formal political power, can do anything to repair the damage. The answer, according to The Economist’s senior editor Daniel Franklin, is that Charles can soften the tone and create space for diplomacy, but he cannot change the fundamental imbalances and grievances that have soured the partnership.

The immediate source of tension is the war in Ukraine. Donald Trump has been openly angry that Britain and other NATO allies have not contributed more, in his view, to the war effort. He has called Keir Starmer “no Churchill,” a pointed insult given Churchill’s role in coining the phrase “special relationship” in 1946. Starmer, for his part, is described as “rather fed up” with the barbs coming from Washington. The relationship is deeply uneven: it matters far more to Britain than to America. Yet Franklin argues it would be wrong to call it trivial to the U.S. The two countries share exceptionally close intelligence cooperation through the Five Eyes pact, especially signals intelligence between GCHQ and the NSA, as well as deep nuclear and military collaboration. The problem is that America