Why King Charles' US state visit could be a big risk for everyone
The King and Queen will meet with US President Donald Trump in person five times over four days as they try to patch up the strained relations between the US and UK amid the conflict in Iran.And everyone involved in the visit admits it is the most risky diplomatic trip of King Charles’ reign so far.Trump has said Starmer is "no Winston Churchill", he picked on his voice, shared social media posts mocking his British counterpart and called Royal Navy warships "toys" compared to American ones.But the prime minister put his faith in the so-called 'soft-power' of the monarchy, which he said, "is often able to reach through the decades on a situation like this".Only stills photographers have been invited into the Oval Office when the King meets the President, which limits the chance of Donald Trump saying something awkward in front of TV cameras.But no one can ever be confident that Trump will stick to his script at a state dinner in Washington.What the King and Queen will not be able to do on the trip is see those Epstein survivors who have written to the palace asking for a meeting.There is currently a criminal investigation in the UK into the King's younger brother, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, for the offence of misconduct in public office.Andrew has consistently denied any wrongdoing, but he was stripped of his prince title, his dukedom and his home in Windsor.Other police assessments are going on into claims of trafficking young women into the UK for sex.The former Prince Andrew has consistently denied any wrongdoing, but he was stripped of his prince title, his dukedom and his home in Windsor over what the palace called his "errors of judgement".A Buckingham Palace source said: "We fully understand and appreciate the survivors' position, but can only reiterate that our position is clear that anything that could potentially impact on ongoing police inquiries and assessments and any potential criminal investigation that could result from that would be to the detriment of the survivors themselves in their pursuit of justice." However small the risk, it is one palace officials are not prepared to take.However small the risk, it is one palace officials are not prepared to take.