King Charles III.: Friendly meeting with Justin Trudeau

King Charles III. (76) welcomed the Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (53) to a meeting at Sandringham. The monarch was in a good mood and received his guest with a warm smile. The encounter took place only one day after the Ukrainian President Wolodymyr Selenskyj (47) on the royal estate in Norfolk.

The recordings of the meeting show a relaxed atmosphere between the British monarch and the Canadian head of government. Trudeau greeted the king with a friendly gesture and a handshake, taking the king’s hand in both hands – a sign of her uncomplicated relationship. For the official photos, both took a seat in patterned armchairs in the salon of the country seat, surrounded by numerous family portraits.

The visit takes place at a politically explosive time. The new US President Donald Trump (78) has repeatedly targeted Canada and even spoke of wanting to make the neighboring country the 51st state of the United States. “I think Canada would be a 51st US state much better,” Trump was quoted by US media. He also threatened new tariffs on Canadian goods that could come into force on Tuesday.

Before meeting with the king, Trudeau had participated in an emergency summit of European heads of state in London at the weekend and already announced that they wanted to talk to Charles about the sovereignty of his country. The British monarch is also head of state of Canada, which gives the meeting a special protocol importance. Observers are increasingly seeing Charles in the role of a unique figure in times of global political upheavals.

The meeting in Sandringham is a series of important diplomatic encounters. Only the day before had Charles received the Ukrainian President Selenskyj, shortly after his scandal with Trump in the Oval Office. According to British media reports, the royal family deliberately uses its “soft power” diplomacy to build bridges.

Meanwhile, the British monarch also sees itself exposed to some criticism because he has so far been silent about Trump’s statements about a possible annexation of Canada. As a formal head of state of Canada, Charles is therefore in a delicate situation, since on the one hand he should represent the interests of Canada, but on the other hand is committed to political neutrality as a constitutional monarch.

Interestingly, Charles Trump invited to a second state visit to Great Britain – an unprecedented process that underlines the efforts of the palace to also maintain good relationships with the new US administration. Before that, an American president has never been officially invited to a state visit twice by the royal family, not even with a second term.