Trump may fancy himself a king but it’s Charles who shows subtle majesty
Donald Trump may fancy himself a king but it’s fallen to an actual monarch (of Britain and Canada) to show up the vulgarity of his pretensions.
Mr Trump is just not subtle enough to have majesty and can never be seen as a majestic figure. Consequential, yes. Threatening, yes. Frightening, yes. But not majestic.
News that King Charles will open Canada’s parliament on May 27 – the first time a UK sovereign has done so since 1957 – is a delicate but definite royal equivalent of giving Mr Trump the finger.
As Canada’s prime minister Mark Carney said at his May 2 press conference, the king has accepted an invitation to open Canada’s parliament in “an historic honour that matches the weight of our times”.
Buckingham Palace also made the bland announcement on X, formerly Twitter: “The King and Queen will visit Canada from Monday 26th to Tuesday 27th May. Their Majesties will attend The State Opening of the Parliament of Canada in Ottawa”.
How much more subtle can the British be about exercising their royal prerogative with respect to Canada, knowing, of course, that it will wind up Mr Trump. The US president has often said he has designs on Canada and wants to make it the 51st state.
That said, Britain’s brilliant subtlety was slightly tarnished by the fact that the royal communications team had to re-do the social media post announcing the visit to Canada. The first version used French emoji flags instead of Canadian!
