King Charles III and Queen Camilla completed a four-day state visit to the United States on Thursday. The diplomatically sensitive trip included a White House dinner with President Donald Trump, a historic address to Congress, and several moments that tested the boundaries of royal protocol and UK-US relations.

Did King Charles and Trump get along during the state visit?

Despite contrasting personalities, Charles and Trump displayed a visible personal warmth. Charles laughed, if somewhat awkwardly, when Trump told guests at a White House speech that his Scottish-born mother had had a crush on the then-prince.

The king was also photographed laughing in the Oval Office when Trump reached out and patted his knee, a gesture that breaks with royal protocol.

“There’s a personal rapport, because I think Charles is a very skilled diplomat,” royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams told AFP.

What jokes did King Charles make at the state dinner?

Charles used the state dinner to show a more playful side, landing several well-received jokes with the audience. He compared Trump’s demolition of the White House East Wing to the British burning of the building in 1814.

Ahead of this summer’s FIFA World Cup, co-hosted by the United States, Mexico, and Canada, he quipped that he and Trump were “joint hosts,” a subtle reminder that Charles is also Canada’s head of state.

When Trump’s line about Europeans speaking German was referenced, Charles added: “Dare I say that, if it wasn’t for us, you’d be speaking French.”

What political messages did Charles deliver to Congress?

In a separate address to Congress, the king delivered several pointed diplomatic messages on behalf of the UK government amid ongoing tensions over Ukraine and Iran.

Charles urged the United States to stand firm with its Western allies, saying “unyielding resolve” was needed to secure a “just and lasting peace” in Ukraine.

He also spoke with pride about Britain’s Royal Navy, in which he served, after Trump had recently mocked it, and stressed the importance of protecting the environment.

Trump has threatened to withdraw the United States from NATO and criticised European leaders for not backing his and Israel’s war against Iran.

What were the awkward moments during the visit?

Trump created friction when he claimed Charles “would have probably helped” the United States in its military offensive against Iran, a characterisation Buckingham Palace did not address publicly.

Trump has repeatedly criticised the UK for not joining the initial strikes and has called Prime Minister Keir Starmer weak and indecisive.

Trump also said Charles had agreed with him on preventing Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, though conversations with the monarch are typically kept private.

Before the New York leg of the trip, the city’s mayor, Zohran Mamdani, called on Charles to return the Koh-i-Noor diamond, taken from the Indian subcontinent by the British Empire in the 1800s.

Did the visit repair relations between the UK and the US?

Analysts were cautious about the visit’s longer-term diplomatic impact. The Times described Charles’s performance as a “masterclass in effective diplomacy,” but experts warned the goodwill may not extend to the broader bilateral relationship.

“This may buy the UK some temporary reprieve from Trump but will not fundamentally change what remains a very fractured so-called special relationship,” said Evie Aspinall, director of the British Foreign Policy Group.

Fitzwilliams agreed the visit would put “a positive spin on matters” but pointed to the many outstanding points of disagreement between London and Washington.