King Charles III delivers a toast at the White House State Dinner: Read his full speech

king Charles The third took the ceremonial stage at the White House on Tuesday night, where he delivered a toast to the night State dinner Which included jokes, sympathy and a special gift for President Donald Trump.

Hours after addressing a joint session of Congress, Charles delivered a toast to the president and first lady Melania Trump, as well as Queen Camilla. The room full of attendees included numerous U.S. Supreme Court justices, elected officials, CEOs, and professional golfer Rory McIlroy.

Charles, who is visiting the United States to celebrate the country’s 250th anniversary, joked that the state dinner was “a very big improvement on the Boston Tea Party.”

The king also spoke about his late mother Queen Elizabeth II – The last British monarch to visit the US in nearly 20 years – and described the “kinship and friendship” between the US and the UK.

After spending some time in Washington, D.C., Charles and Camilla continue their four-day trip State visit To the United States – their first – in New York City and Virginia.

Read below for Charles’ full speech at the White House State Dinner, as well subscriber By Buckingham Palace.

Mr. President, First Lady,

My wife and I are very grateful to you for your hospitality as the United States celebrates this very special anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

Allow me also to begin by praising your courage and resilience, as well as your security services for their quick action on Saturday evening to prevent further casualties. My thoughts and sympathies are with you, the First Lady and all the guests for whom this incident was extremely upsetting. As the words of this famous anthem remind us, this is the land of the free and the home of the brave, as your response makes clear. What was called the last war in the United Kingdom, keep calm and carry on…!

I realize now, to my astonishment, that my first visit to this wonderful country was more than fifty years ago, Mr President, The golden threads of history and heritage between our lands are also embodied in the story of your family, whose roots go back to the beautiful landscapes of Britain’s Outer Hebrides, and continue, as we know, to the wonderful golf courses of the Highlands. I can only imagine the immense pride with which your dear mother, indeed your parents, must look with contempt at the great office to which you have been elected for a historic second term.

If I may say so, it is a particular pleasure for me to return to this magnificent building, the heart of your democracy. On this occasion, I cannot help but note the “alterations” made to the East Wing, Mr. President, following your visit to Windsor Castle last year. We Brits, of course, made our own attempt to redevelop the White House estate in 1814, I’m sorry to say.

I am very pleased that we have an important opportunity, at this critical time, to renew the ties of history and friendship between our countries and peoples. Two and a half centuries ago, the United States of America was founded through a bold and far-sighted act of self-determination. From the beginning, the American character was characterized by courage, perseverance, and a spirit of adventure. As a direct descendant of King George III, I know that this nation never gives up.

My family history remains reflected in your maps, which are a bit like our Christmas card list through the ages — North and South Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, the cities of Charleston (my obvious favorite), Georgetown (and for that matter, Georgia), Annapolis, as I mentioned, and (other favorites) Prince William County and Williamsburg. However, our French friends can feel equally at home just by looking at a map. Indeed, you recently commented, Mr. President, that if it were not for the United States, European countries would speak German. I dare say that if it weren’t for us, you would be speaking French…! There is no doubt that we love our French cousins ​​very much, and in all three countries we are committed not only to our shared values, but also to a deep belief that together we are more than the sum of our parts.

Amid the bitter and bloody fires of the Revolutionary War, the triumph of the father of this country, George Washington, and his fellow Founders was to forge a democracy built on the right to liberty and the rule of law.

The story of Britain and America is one of reconciliation, from adversaries to closest allies; They may not always follow the straight path. As you said yourself, Mr President, during your official visit to Windsor Castle last year, ours is an unbreakable bond of history, heritage, culture, trade, industry and invention – and we are determined to face the future together.

Tonight, we are here to renew the indispensable alliance that has long been a cornerstone of prosperity and security for both British and American citizens. Our people have fought and fallen together in defense of the values ​​we hold dear. Across the ocean, from coast to coast, we exchange, innovate and create together. We have stood together through the best and worst of times.

However, the challenges we face now, from those around the world who wish to do us harm, to balancing the risks and opportunities presented by powerful new technologies, to the threats to the very international rules that have allowed us to trade and maintained the balance of power for eighty years; These challenges encourage us to reaffirm, tonight, the foundation on which our partnership was built.

And yes, we have had difficult moments even in recent history. When my mother visited us in 1957, not the least of her duties was to help bring “private” matters back into our relationship after the crisis in the Middle East. Nearly seventy years later, it is difficult to imagine something like this happening today….

But it is not difficult to see how important the relationship is, both in visible and invisible matters.

My mother’s first Prime Minister, Sir Winston Churchill, understood this well. But he was half-American himself – a tradition of shared transatlantic heritage that I’m happy to say is still alive and well in the White House today! In fact, the proximity was so great that Sir Winston, while staying here in the White House—in one of the rooms you showed us upstairs—came out of the bathtub naked to discover the door open as President Roosevelt entered to chat. Very cleverly, the President put aside any embarrassment by declaring that “the Prime Minister has nothing to hide from the President of the United States.” This warmth came after difficult times among our leaders in the early 1940s.

A kinship and friendship that has lasted many centuries provided great reassurance to my late grandfather, King George VI, as it did to my late mother.

It means every bit as much to me.

Naturally, my late mother met no less than thirteen service chiefs – and fortunately, they were all fully dressed! The first president I had the pleasure of meeting – when he was 10 years old in 1959, when he came to Balmoral – was President Eisenhower, who served as Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers during World War II at a critical time in the darkest days of the twentieth century. American leadership helped rebuild a shattered continent, playing a crucial role as defender of freedom in Europe. And we – and I – will never forget that, especially with freedom under attack again in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Today, our NATO and AU-US partnerships deepen our technological and military cooperation and ensure that together we can meet the challenges of an increasingly complex and contested world. Speaking of submarine alliances, there was a certain predecessor to AUKUS, which was launched from a UK shipyard in 1944 and served most of its life attached to the 4th Submarine Squadron in Australia, playing a crucial role during the war in the Pacific.

Her name? HMS Trump.

So, tonight, Mr. President, I have the pleasure of presenting to you – as a personal gift – the original bell that once hung on the Conning Tower of the same name. May it serve as a testimony to our nations’ shared history and bright future. And if you need to catch us…well, just give us a call!

For 250 years, the ingenuity and imagination of the people of the United States have inspired the world. This land of opportunity has nurtured some of humanity’s greatest minds, from the Industrial Age to the Space Age. Many of the miracles of the modern world were and continue to be invented in America. In fact, we’ve been following the voyage of Artemis II – or Artemis II, as my family and I might call it! – With close attention. Now, I know you have big plans for the Moon, Mr. President, but I’ve checked the papers and it’s already part of the Commonwealth, I’m afraid!

On my visit this week, I look forward to meeting the people and communities of this dynamic country, including celebrating some of the work that the King’s Trust does in those communities, helping to give young people the opportunity to succeed across America. This year as we celebrate 50 years of the Trust, can you believe it?

Every year, millions of Britons travel to this wonderful country to experience its stunning national parks, towering mountains and ancient forests. From the peaks of the Pacific Northwest to the rugged shores of the Atlantic, and from the vast expanses of the West to the prairies and sweeping valleys, the natural beauty of this land is found around every corner.

In sports, in a few weeks, the United States and Canada will be among the countries welcoming the world as hosts of the FIFA World Cup. So, Mr. President, on the one hand, we as heads of state are co-hosts!

By the way, this game we call “football”, Mr. President… I can only say that as head of state of five competing countries, I will follow the matches closely and with great enthusiasm. After all, we always like favorable odds…

This city, Washington, D.C., is home to more Shakespeare compositions than any other place in the world. 82 copies were carefully preserved and shared in the Folger Library. At this time when the search for peace in the world is more important than ever, I cannot help but turn to the genius of Shakespeare to remind us of the plea for peace, uttered by the Duke of Burgundy at the conclusion of Henry V –

“My speech implores me to know… why gentle peace should not… bless us with its former qualities.”

Thank you, Mr. President and Mrs. Trump, for your wonderful dinner this evening, which, may I say, is a very great improvement on the Boston Tea Party! So, whether your cup contains tea, wine, Scotch whisky, bourbon or even cola, let us raise our glasses and our voices as we toast the past, present and future of our two proud and allied nations:

To the United States and the United Kingdom. May God bless our two countries.