During Donald Trump’s second UK state visit, King Charles displayed remarkable composure as he subtly guided Trump during a ceremonial welcome at Windsor Castle. On September 18, Charles invited the 45th and 47th US president to walk ahead while inspecting the Guard of Honour, a move that appeared to preemptively address any potential breaches of royal protocol.
This was especially significant considering the incident in 2018 when Trump walked ahead of the late Queen Elizabeth II, which drew widespread criticism for not adhering to protocol. This time, Charles ensured no such situation occurred.
Caught up in the ceremony’s grandeur, Trump took the opportunity to stop and converse with guardsmen, expressing his gratitude to the commanding officer. Despite the outward display of cordiality, King Charles’ body language hinted at another narrative.
Judi James, a body language expert, observed what she termed as ‘a moment of suppressed tetchiness’ in Charles as he followed Trump. She noted, “Despite walking a very emphatic pace behind Trump as he inspects the troops, there is a moment of suppressed tetchiness from Charles as he realises there is a long conversation going on which might delay the schedule. The King edges up to Trump, his hands clenching and unclenching in a gesture of impatience, and he places a hand on Trump’s back to get him moving along again.”
Compounding the day’s time constraints, Trump arrived at 12.16pm, significantly later than the scheduled 11.55am, and Charles himself was seen at 12.02pm. During this delay, lip reader Nicola Hickling suggested that Charles muttered ‘go away’ to someone nearby, though the intended recipient remains unknown.
James emphasized Charles’ efforts to avoid the previous protocol mishap involving the Queen. “Fascinating to see how deftly Charles dealt with the previous problem that caused ridicule for Trump in the UK when he was accused (unfairly) of walking in front of the late Queen, forcing her to pop around behind him to catch up as he inspected the guards,” she commented.
Charles adeptly handled the situation with diplomatic finesse. James described, “This time we can see Charles peering at Trump’s face as he holds both his arms out to ‘present’ the president to the Master at Arms then performing a very emphatic ushering ritual with one arm out and the other behind Trump’s back to steer him into place and to make no mistake of the fact that Charles is going to walk along behind.”
To underscore his point, Charles even executed what James referred to as ‘a solicitous bow as Trump walks ahead, which is an incredibly unusual act of ‘self-lowering’ of the King’s status to raise the status of his guest’. Although the scene appeared composed, Charles’ clenched fists conveyed his underlying sentiments.