This isn’t going to be a serious article. I’m not going to analyze our relationship with the United Kingdom or talk about tariffs and freedom of speech and all that. I’m just going to obsess a bit over the pageantry I’ve witnessed over the last 24 hours as the British Royal Family (BRF) rolled out the red carpet for our president and first lady. I am sure our Founding Fathers are turning in their graves, and I know we fought a whole revolution to get away from this, but I can’t help myself. As I’ve confessed in many of my scathing Meghan Markle articles, I’m a royal watcher and always have been. I grew up convinced that I would marry Prince William and that Queen Elizabeth and I would be the best of friends. So if you consider that treason or just don’t care, feel free to sit this one out.
President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump flew Wednesday to London, where Prince William and Princess Catherine — whom I’m going to call Kate from here on out — greeted them warmly on the grounds at Windsor Castle.
Prince William and his wife, Catherine, greeted US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania as the US president began his unprecedented second state visit to Britain https://t.co/uoX0V167j5 pic.twitter.com/j9uHo0sYXj
— Reuters (@Reuters) September 17, 2025
After that, the Trumps met with King Charles and Queen Camilla and took a royal carriage to the castle where they had lunch. William and Kate reportedly had a private meeting with the Trumps after the lunch, as well.
.@POTUS and @FLOTUS are greeted at Victoria House by Their Majesties The King and the Queen 🇺🇸🇬🇧 pic.twitter.com/HVZQfQVxKl
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) September 17, 2025
WHAT A SIGHT! Carriages for @POTUS, @FLOTUS, and Their Majesties arrive at Windsor Castle in a remarkable welcome for the unprecedented second state visit of President Donald J. Trump 🇺🇸🇬🇧 pic.twitter.com/NAgxH5XAia
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) September 17, 2025
Sound up for this one:
The Star-Spangled Banner is played for @POTUS and @FLOTUS upon their arrival at Windsor Castle with Their Majesties. 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/4wcie2Nt3L
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) September 17, 2025
The BRF pulled out all the stops for the visit, and it was quite a sight to behold. There was a flyover, musical performances, a large military ceremony, a trip to St. George’s Chapel (where the late queen is buried), and so much more. I’ll admit I watched the coverage — both British and American — throughout most of the day yesterday, and the analysts could not stop talking about how unprecedented all of this was for numerous reasons. They’d never seen such a welcome for any other world leader. They spoke of how rare it is for all of the senior royals to come together for such an event. They also spoke of how sort of tremendous it was for Kate as she continues to reinsert herself back into her public life after battling cancer.
“It’s a statement by the Royal Family: we’re going to roll out the ultimate red carpet — and again, just to stress, I’ve not seen this done for any other world leader. This is unprecedented,” Piers Morgan said. He also pointed out that no other world leader has ever had two state visits with two different monarchs like this — the president visited Elizabeth during his first term — so it’s not just unprecedented, it’s historic.
I’ll throw in some clips from all of the hoopla from yesterday, and then we’ll get to the lavish dinner.
📍Windsor Castle
🇺🇸 🇬🇧 pic.twitter.com/T1nt0iVeo7
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) September 17, 2025
Sound up for this one too:
STARS AND STRIPES FOREVER! 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/EhWmNrOBwO
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) September 17, 2025
AWESOME!!!!! 🇺🇸🇬🇧 pic.twitter.com/1h1ryHN5FD
— Dan Scavino (@Scavino47) September 17, 2025
.@POTUS and King Charles greet service members at Windsor Castle. pic.twitter.com/CWNm5ZADcy
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) September 17, 2025
On Wednesday evening, the Trumps, along with the senior royals and numerous other dignitaries gathered for a state dinner at Windsor Castle. That was a sight to behold. You had the president sitting between Kate and Charles with Marco Rubio sitting on the king’s other side. You had Melania sitting between Camilla and William, who pulled the first lady’s chair out for her. The room was filled with ball gowns, tails, tiaras, and medals, and it was fun to watch.
Mrs. Trump looked stunning in her yellow Carolina Herrera dress, and Kate looked nothing short of a princess in her sparkly Phillipa Lepley gown with the Cambridge Lover’s Knot tiara that once belonged to Queen Mary.
Both the president and the king spoke before dinner, and while they talked of the relationship between our countries, things also got a little cheeky.
.@POTUS and @FLOTUS, together with Their Majesties, arrive for a state banquet at Windsor Castle. 🇺🇸🇬🇧 pic.twitter.com/tyO8lTW4xv
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) September 17, 2025
The president mentioned the historic nature of his visit, adding “This was the 2nd state visit, and that’s the [historic] first. And maybe that’s going to be the last time. I hope it is, actually.” The room laughed, including Charles, but what really cracked me up was that Rubio couldn’t seem to stop giggling.
🚨 JUST IN: President Trump has the whole Windsor Castle state banquet CRACKING UP, especially Marco Rubio and even King Charles 🤣
“It’s a singular privilege to be the first American President welcomed here. And you think about it, it’s a lot of presidents and this was the 2nd… pic.twitter.com/6weFYohviN
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) September 17, 2025
During his speech, Charles also made the room laugh with this line: “I cannot help but wonder what our forbearers from 1776 would make of this friendship today.”
🚨 NOW: King Charles gives a toast to President Trump and First Lady Melania at Windsor Castle, celebrating how close he and Trump are
“I cannot help but wonder what our forbearers from 1776 would make of this friendship today,” King Charles said earlier in the speech
🤣🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/ttisgPdKET
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) September 17, 2025
One hundred sixty guests attended the dinner, which included the royals, the Trumps (including the president’s daughter, Tiffany, and her husband), several members of the Trump Administration, and business leaders like Rupert Murdoch, Tim Cook, Jensen Huang, Sam Altman, and Blackstone’s Stephen Schwarzman. British politicians, like Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch, were also in the mix. The actual table was the length of half a football field and reportedly took five days to set just perfectly for all of the VIPs.
Last but not least, I’ll wrap this up with what I thought was a sweet moment from today. Princess Kate and Mrs. Trump got together on Thursday and met with a group of young British children who are members of the Squirrel Scouts. Both women adore children, and it’s always fun to watch either one of them interact with the youngest members of society. Forget Meghan Markle’s hoity-toity, try-too-hard Netflix show — I could just watch hours of footage of these two naturally interacting with the world and be quite happy.
.@FLOTUS speaks with children in the Royal Library at Windsor Castle this morning ❤️ pic.twitter.com/q5tbvybbHg
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) September 18, 2025
Introducing First Lady Melania Trump to Chief Scout Dwayne Fields and a group of young Scouts from the Squirrels programme at Windsor today. pic.twitter.com/V3fZ3XaW5i
— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) September 18, 2025
Oh, and I can’t forget that the first lady, along with Camilla, also visited with young children at the Royal Library at Windsor Castle before heading back to the United States. How sweet is this video?
.@FLOTUS speaks with children in the Royal Library at Windsor Castle this morning ❤️ pic.twitter.com/q5tbvybbHg
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) September 18, 2025
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