The Princess of Wales was deployed by the King last night to charm Donald Trump in an act of expert soft diplomacy that also left his usually-measured wife Melania awestruck and ‘giddy’ in her presence.
She is fast becoming as influential as the King and her husband after she ‘dazzled’ the President and melted his ‘icy-cool’ First Lady on their first day of their state visit to Britain.
Kate was sat to Mr Trump’s right at last night’s extraordinary Windsor Castle state banquet, clinking glasses with him and repeatedly sharing smiles with him during the meal.
One expert told the Daily Mail today that her ‘soft-skill flirting’ with the leader of the free world ‘reduced the President to a man rather in awe’.
Christopher Ruddy, an American guest at the banquet, admitted today that Mr Trump spent most of the night talking to Kate.
Mr Trump appeared absolutely captivated by the future queen, whose regal jewellery and gold couture gown by British designer Phillipa Lepley clearly caught his eye because in his speech he said she was ‘so radiant and so healthy, so beautiful’.
Royal sources have said it was also highly significant that the King decided that she and Prince William met his American guests after they landed at Windsor Castle yesterday.
President Trump gushed again that Kate looked ‘so beautiful’ before warmly shaking William’s hand and telling him: ‘We have lots to catch up with, and there’s been lots of changes.’
The Princess of Wales and the President clink glasses following a toast to their two nations. He also praised the future queen’s beauty in his own address
The ‘iconic’ image of the Princess of Wales and Donald Trump as they listened to King Charles’ speech last night
The usually ‘icy’ Melania Trump thawed in Kate’s presence
The King and Queen were then waiting in the wings to greet the Trumps.
Melania was seen speaking earnestly to Camilla but then lit up when Kate arrived. Donald Trump spoke to Charles but quite quickly returned to Kate and his wife.
The Presidential couple then joined the royals in a carriage procession in an extraordinary show of pomp and pageantry watched by millions around the world.
The Prince and Princess of Wales’ influence was shown again as it emerged they held an unannounced meeting with the President and First Lady after lunch.
A royal insider has said that Charles is happy to lean on his eldest son and his wife at state events where Britain and its Royal Family uses its soft power like no other nation on earth.
‘The King can see what an asset Kate is to the Royal Family and the country’, the insider told the Mail today. ‘The Trumps are both captivated by her’.
‘William is once again showing himself to be a serious statesman’, they added.
Another source said: ‘I think it shows how important William and Kate are in this royal charm offensive to set up the politicians for the second day.
‘President Trump may reveal later what they discussed but I wouldn’t be surprised if, in addition to some small talk, William used the opportunity to get across some of his and the UK’s priorities on climate change, Ukraine, and Gaza.
‘The mood music out of Buckingham Palace is that the King is managing his cancer treatment well. The message is upbeat. But it’s been interesting that there has been some briefing in the past few months about what sort of King William will be.
‘That could be seen as a sign that they are preparing us for a change of reign but I suspect it’s more a case that they are confident that he is here for a few years yet.
‘Nevertheless, there is a desire to build Williams’s profile on the world stage. He and Kate appear to have passed their latest test with flying colours so far on this state visit’.
Mr Trump also had warm words for Prince William, saying the King had raised a fantastic son. There was also an unannounced meeting between the Trumps and the Wales’ yesterday
Body language expert Judi James that the Princess of Wales utterly charmed Mr Trump.
‘With so much focus on the strong friendship signals and rituals between Trump and King Charles it was easy to miss some of the subtler, soft power body language moments between the President and Kate‘, she said.
‘He was seen very gallantly and solicitously pushing her chair in as she took her seat beside him last night and it was undeniable that his glance of undiluted admiration fell in her direction as he toasted the “Special Queen”, leapfrogging a generation of royals and clearly dazzled by his dinner companion.
‘His non-verbal responses to the woman he called “So radiant, healthy and beautiful” were even more powerful and revealing than his words’.
She added: ‘The moment caught between Kate and Trump at the banquet is iconic. There’s a hint of soft-skill flirting here that seems to have reduced the President to a man rather in awe and actually put in his place a little by the playful smile on Kate’s face.
‘Trump is leaning in with his bashful smile and upward glance making him look like a naughty schoolboy in the throes of a small crush. It’s a wonderfully complimentary pose with Trump looking happily compliant while Kate playfully suggests she quietly has the measure of him’.
Kate also enjoys a good relationship with Mrs Trump.
‘It was clear from Kate’s high-energy, enthusiastic approach to Melania as she zoomed in to chat to the First Lady using an expression of keenness and excitement as well as some animated gesticulation that she and the FLOTUS will be bonding on their excursion today’, Judi said.
‘Kate seems to have captured the art of gently pushing through barriers to create authentic bonds. Melania can appear quite icy-cool but it was Kate’s immediate signals of assumed friendship that brought a wide grin and some complimentary mirroring from the First Lady’.
Royal sources have said it was highly significant that Kate and William met the Trumps when they arrived at Windsor
President Trump admires the Princess of Wales’ gown
Mr Trump will hold talks with Sir Keir Starmer today.
In his speech at last night’s state dinner, Mr Trump praised the royal couple and took an apparent swipe at Prince Harry, which will be music to William’s ears after Harry’s four-day pseudo-royal tour of the UK last week.
The President gushed in his speech: ‘I just want to say that His Majesty has also raised a remarkable son in His Royal Highness, Prince of Wales. Really amazing.
‘We’ve gotten to know you and I think you’re going to have an unbelievable success in future. Melania and I are delighted to visit again with Prince William and to see Her Royal Highness, Princess Catherine, so radiant and so healthy, so beautiful’.
President Donald Trump paid a heartfelt tribute to America’s relationship with the UK saying the word ‘special does not begin to do it justice‘.
The US leader also heaped praise on the King describing his as a ‘very, very special man’, listing a catalogue of his passions from the environment to architecture during a banquet staged in his honour to mark Mr Trump’s second historic state visit.
Mr Trump told the guests, who included media mogul Rupert Murdoch, gathered in Windsor Castle’s St George’s Hall: ‘Seen from American eyes the word special does not begin to do it justice.’
He went on to say: ‘We’re joined by history and faith, by love and language and by transcendent ties of culture, tradition, ancestry and destiny.
‘We’re like two notes in one chord or two verses of the same poem, each beautiful on its own, but really meant to be played together.
‘The bond of kinship and identity between America and the United Kingdom is priceless and eternal.’
A series of welcomes, poignant moments and spectacular ceremonial displays were held for the president and First Lady Melania Trump during the opening day of the state visit as the royal family used its ‘soft diplomacy’ to strengthen the UK’s ties with one of its most enduring allies.
William and Kate were deployed at the start of the royal charm offensive to greet the Trumps first when they arrived at Windsor Castle by helicopter.
And around 1,500 troops in total were involved in ceremonial military events throughout the day – almost double those on duty for the recent state visit of France’s President Emmanuel Macron.
The US leader had an affinity with Queen Elizabeth II, who hosted his first state visit, and during the afternoon he laid a wreath at her tomb in the castle’s St George’s Chapel joined by the First Lady.
In his speech Mr Trump described his second state visit to the UK as a ‘singular privilege’ adding later ‘but this is truly one of the highest honours of my life, such respect for you and such respect for your country’.
The president’s words were echoed by Charles who spoke of the ‘enduring bond between our two great nations’ that has been ‘long called ‘special” and went on to describe how it grew from two sworn enemies fighting against each other in the American Revolutionary War.
‘Today, however, we celebrate a relationship between our two countries that surely neither Washington nor King George III could possibly have imagined.
‘The ocean may still divide us, but in so many ways we are now the closest of kin.’
Charles delivered the first address of the evening and praised president’s ‘… own personal commitment to finding solutions to some of the world’s most intractable conflicts, in order to secure peace’.
Since being elected to office Mr Trump has sought to be known as a peacemaker and made no secret of the fact that he covets a Nobel prize.
Charles highlighted his long-held concerns about the environment as he spoke beside the president who in the past has branded climate change a ‘Chinese hoax’ and announced his decision to withdraw America from the Paris climate agreement at the start of his first term in 2017.
The King said: ‘Our legacy for the next 250 years and beyond is to ensure that our children, grandchildren and those who come after them, can experience the awe and magnificence of the natural treasures found in the countryside, on the coasts, in the seas and in the national parks established by your predecessors and mine.’
The president’s love of golf is well known, with the US leader opening a new golf course in Aberdeenshire in July, and among the banquet guests was his golf buddy and six-times former major champion golfer Sir Nick Faldo.
Charles joked: ‘Mr President, you have spoken of your pride in your British roots. In fact, not only have you set foot on British soil twice in the last two months alone, but I understand British soil makes for rather splendid golf courses.
