For the first time in nearly 35 years, a British monarch has addressed a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress.
King Charles III, no doubt sensitive to the recent political friction between the U.S. and Britain over the matter of the war in Iran, noted at the outset Tuesday night that these are "times of great uncertainty, in times of conflict, from Europe to the Middle East, which pose immense challenges for the international community and whose impact is felt in communities the length and breadth of our own countries."
Charles emphasized, however, that even in such times, it remains clear that America's and Britain's destinies are entangled and that the two countries share a special "bond of kinship and identity" that is "irreplaceable and unbreakable."
After reassuring lawmakers that his presence stateside was not "part of some cunning rearguard action" and lauding the American founding fathers both as "bold and imaginative rebels with a cause" and inheritors "of the British Enlightenment," Charles hyped the need to build upon and renew the Anglo-American partnership, particularly in the military space.
On the theme of renewal and in an apparent nod to President Donald Trump's repeated insistence that North Atlantic Treaty Organization members boost their defense spending, Charles noted that the U.K. "has committed to the biggest sustained increase in defense spending since the Cold War."
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British Prime Minister Keir Starmer committed last year to spending 2.5% of GDP on core defense by April 2027. The U.K., which spent an estimated 2.3% of GDP on defense in 2024, has since entertained the possibility of increasing spending to 3% in the next Parliament — an increase that Starmer said would be made possible by reductions to aid spending.
Charles, speaking weeks after the Trump administration signaled an interest in pulling the U.S. out of NATO, said the military alliance is as relevant now as it was during the Cold War and "in the immediate aftermath of 9/11, when NATO invoked Article Five for the first time."
The king — who acknowledged that "the commitment and expertise of the United States Armed Forces and its allies lie at the heart of NATO" — suggested further that the alliance was imperative to keep "North Americans and Europeans safe from our common adversaries," singling out Ukraine as a nation now in need of defense.
Charles closed his speech with an apparent knock at isolationism, stating, "I pray with all my heart that our alliance will continue to defend our shared values with our partners in Europe and the Commonwealth and across the world and that we ignore the clarion calls to become ever more inward-looking."
The last royal address to Congress was given by Charles' late mother, Queen Elizabeth II, in the wake of the Gulf War. Elizabeth similarly spoke with interest about nurturing Britain's "long-standing friendship with the people of the United States."
"We want to build on that foundation and to do better," said the queen. "And if the going gets rough, I hope you can still agree with your poet Emerson, who wrote in 1847, 'I feel, in regard to this aged England, with a kind of instinct, that she sees a little better on a cloudy day, and that, in storm of battle and calamity, she has a secret vigor and a pulse like a cannon.' You will find us worthy partners, and we are proud to have you as our friends."
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