Can King Charles fix the special relationship?
The Story
The Times
3.9 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 27 April 2026
⏱️ 28 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This episode was recorded before the events at the White House Correspondents’ Association on Saturday.
King Charles arrives in America today for a state visit to mark the country’s 250th birthday. But with US-UK relations at a low over Iran - and the Epstein scandal still looming large - the stakes are high. Last week Trump said the monarch could help repair the special relationship so will soft power bring the allies back together?
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Guests:
- Kate Mansey, assistant editor, The Times.
- Sir David Manning, former British Ambassador to America and former advisor to the Royal Household.
Host: Luke Jones.
Producer: Olivia Case.
We want to hear from you - email: thestory@thetimes.com
Read more: King’s US visit can ‘absolutely’ repair relations, says Trump
Further listening: The Pope v Trump
Clips: The Art of the Surge: The Donald Trump Comeback / Instagram, BBC, DailyMotion, The Royal Family Channel / YouTube, ABC.
Photo: Getty Images.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | From The Times and the Sunday Times, this is the story. I'm Luke Jones. |
| 0:08.6 | Both of the conversations you're about to hear were recorded before the shooting incident |
| 0:12.7 | at the White House Correspondents Association dinner, so we won't be talking about the security |
| 0:18.2 | issues, which are of course now being combed through at the |
| 0:21.6 | king's visit. Donald Trump loved visiting the late queen. You just try and stop him, showing you |
| 0:29.1 | his photo book. And this is with Queen Elizabeth. Right here, who was fantastic, by the way? |
| 0:35.0 | These images, I mean, who has images like this? |
| 0:38.1 | And these were relationships, too. |
| 0:40.5 | Talking to a documentary crew in 2024, |
| 0:42.9 | he turns the page to a picture of our now king. |
| 0:46.9 | It's Charles, so beautiful. |
| 0:49.8 | And hopefully he's going to be well, |
| 0:51.8 | because he's a really good person. Camilla is fantastic. |
| 0:56.6 | You get to know him so well, this is your favorite. They're soon to be reunited. The king is in the |
| 1:01.8 | United States from today to mark 250 years since they told his ancestor George the 3rd to shove off. |
| 1:08.9 | Relations might be better than in the Revolutionary War in 1776, |
| 1:14.2 | but are they exactly good in the middle of a trade and Middle Eastern War in 2026? |
| 1:20.6 | The trip comes at a difficult time for UK and US relations, |
| 1:24.3 | which have been strained by the Iran War. |
| 1:26.6 | I'm not happy with the UK either. |
| 1:29.1 | This is not Winston Churchill that we're dealing with. |
| 1:33.2 | There is no end of possible pitfalls. |
... |
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