The recently-concluded State visit of US President Donald Trump, along with First Lady Melania Trump, to the United Kingdom has provided global netizens with a host of quotations, symbols and optics bringing the imperial past to the fore. King Charles III and Queen Camilla as gracious Royal hosts welcomed the Trumps at the historic Windsor Castle where the pageantry of the spectacular military guard of honour by The King’s Guard on the lawned Quadrangle brought back to life Pax Britannica and Pax Americana – the ‘times of peace’ initiated by the two great powers who ruthlessly ruled the world, exploiting its lands, forests and oceans for centuries.
President Trump, in the UK for a historic second state visit, experienced the trademark pomp and grandeur with a formal banquet hosted by King Charles III and Queen Camilla at the Windsor Castle. Official photographs of the two couples at the banquet reveal the resplendent and dignified, though aging British Royalty with the all-smiling US President and First Lady, standing head above shoulders over their hosts. President Trump was in a sleekly cut tailcoat wore a bow tie, white on white, with the aplomb of a just-arrived victor.
Tailcoats, as historians of sartorial elegance tell us, were integral to aristocratic horsemanship; the equestrian dress which gave the horse-rider mobility and flexibility to hunt on horseback, and as the Americans love to say, shoot from the hip. That seems to be the mood of President Trump as he posed with a wide smile to the camera, the smile of the buccaneer, an all too famous ‘I don’t care a damn’ Trump look and his inimitable hairstyle. First Lady Melania was in a floor-length canary yellow dress with a light violet belt, her bare shoulders trumpeting her boldness, as she stood tall in the royal red, maroon and ornately gilded interiors of Windsor Castle.
Yellow is not only the colour of sunshine and hope, very American and forceful, it is also the colour of deceit and untruthfulness, tinted with shocking dishonesty. Being the youngest of the four in the photograph, she exuded confidence and bravado of the arm-candy of the world’s most powerful man, even though he remains the most vilified at home and abroad. The aging Queen Camilla wore a deep purple dress, flowing to the floor, fully covering her arms. Besides the bejewelled tiara, she had donned the Royal Family Order of Charles III for the occasion. This decoration is conferred by the head of a Royal Family to their female relations; a Royal Family Order is considered more of a personal memento than a state decoration. Featuring a small portrait of the Sovereign attached to a ribbon, this Order’s history dates back to King George IV in 1820.
King Charles III wore military medallions and decorations on his chest; the Royal Family Order he donned had been painted by miniaturist Elizabeth Meek. It was his portrait on polymin, a synthetic material, instead of the traditional ivory. The portrait is surrounded by 10.41 carat diamonds, mounted on a white and yellow gold frame, and hung from a gold and enamel Tudor Crown. While the pale blue colour of the silk ribbon was chosen by the King himself in homage to that used by his great-grandfather, George V, the bow itself has a far more modern reference bank. It was designed by Philip Treacy, the milliner and former Tatler contributing editor, whose works are beloved by the Queen. Royal sartorial history leaps out from the pages of the British Royalty-loving media covering the State Banquet, preparations for which begin six months in advance.
It typically takes household staff around three days to lay the nearly 52 yards-long table. The King has the ultimate stamp of approval on both the seating plan and the menu, reporters were told, with input from both governments. Roughly 100 staff were taking care of the evening’s guests. The evening’s drinks gave a nod to Mr Trump and his heritage. They included a Warre’s 1945 Vintage Port, made the year before the president was born. Hennessy 1912 Cognac Grande Champagne was a nod to the president’s mother, born in 1912. The menu: panna cotta with parmesan shortbread and a quail egg salad, chicken ballotine wrapped in courgettes with a thyme and savoury infused jus, and vanilla ice cream bombe with a raspberry sorbet interior.
The specially crafted cocktail for the evening was called the transatlantic Whisky Sour, a twist on the whisky sour. The evening’s flowers were handpicked seasonal flowers from the gardens of Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle and the Savill Garden in Windsor Great Park. The night’s music included “You Can’t Always Get What You Want,” “An Irish Party in Third Class,” and a James Bond medley, among other pieces. Mr Trump said visiting Windsor Castle is “one of the highest honours of my life.” He and the King both spoke about the bond between the US and UK, which King Charles said has been tested time and again.
“We’re joined by history and fate, by love and language and by transcendent ties of culture, tradition, ancestry and destiny,” the president said, calling the bond “priceless” and “eternal.” Mr. Trump said the US is now the “hottest country anywhere in the world,” crediting the UK for giving the US a firm footing from which to begin. The president toasted the king as “a very, very special man.” King Charles remarked about the friendship between the US and UK, one he said may have surprised their forefathers hundreds of years ago. “Anchored by the deep friendship between our people, this relationship which, with good reason, we and our predecessors have long called special, has made us safer and stronger through the generations,” the King said. “Mr President, I cannot help but wonder what our forebears from 1776 would think of this friendship today,” the king continued, “our countries have the closest defense, security and intelligence relationship ever known. In two world wars, we’ve fought together to defeat the forces of tyranny,” he said.
“Today as tyranny once again threatens Europe, we and our allies stand together in support of Ukraine to deter aggression and secure peace.” While Ukraine got a mention in the opulent expanse of Windsor Castle, President Trump told reporters earlier that his administration is attempting to get the former US Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan back from the Taliban. The US abandoned the air base in 2021 during former President Biden’s massive military withdrawal from Afghanistan. Trump made the revelation during a press conference with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, where he also criticized his predecessor’s chaotic withdrawal. “We gave it to them for nothing,” Trump said of the base. “We’re trying to get it back, by the way.
That could be a little breaking news. We’re trying to get it back because they need things from us. We want that base back but one of the reasons we want the base is, as you know, it’s an hour away from where China makes its nuclear weapons.” The president did not expand on what “things” the Taliban is trying to get from the United States or provide any other insight into the plans to regain control of the base, the British media reported. What the British public did not get to hear more was the Prime Minister Keir Starmer who fired his ambassador to the United States, Peter Mandelson, over his past close ties with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
While President Trump and the First Lady were insulated to a degree from protests against their visit to Britain, there were continuing demonstrations and outrage against America’s most divisive leader. Trump was at his reassuring best when announcing the joint MoU authorizing investment of $350 billion in sectors including artificial intelligence (AI), civil nuclear energy and quantum computing. The Allied leaders announced the Technology Prosperity Deal at a press conference at Chequers, the country manor of the British PM in Buckinghamshire northwest of London, claiming that the “win for both sides” could create up to 17,500 new jobs across both nations.
“This trip has galvanized $350 billion in deals across many sectors, and we’re committed to ensuring the UK a secure and reliable supply of the best AI, hardware and software on Earth, and we supply that and make sure we supply it in quantity to the UK,” said Trump. Undoubtedly a new era of Allied cooperation has begun with President Trump calling the shots, with trade tariff wars further dividing the developed and developing world, and the relentless tightening of immigration laws. Social distress, inflation, and unemployment are on the rise in the third decade of the 21st century as US and British imperialism is once again carving up the Asian-African-South American continents with renewed vigour. The Windsor Castle banquet served its transatlantic Whisky Sour cocktail; our worlds will soon get the bitterness to taste too.
(The writer is a researcherwriter on history and heritage issues, and a former deputy curator of Pradhanmantri Sangrahalaya)