Reporter’s Notebook: King Charles’ visit puts fraying US-UK alliance in the spotlight
It was the spring of 1991."Joyride" by Roxette topped the charts. Roseanne and Murphy Brown reigned on TV. And Queen Elizabeth became the first British monarch to speak to a...
By Fox News · Fox News
It was the spring of 1991. "Joyride" by Roxette topped the charts. Roseanne and Murphy Brown reigned on TV. And Queen Elizabeth became the first British monarch to speak to a Joint Meeting of Congress. The world was evolving in early 1991. The Berlin Wall fell a year-and-a-half earlier, the Soviet Union was on the verge of fracturing and the U.S. and United Kingdom – among others – teamed up to defeat Iraq after it invaded Kuwait in the first Gulf War. MORNING GLORY: TRUMP MEETS PUTIN AMID AN ERA DONE AWAY WITH JOHN QUINCY ADAMS' 'ABROAD' The paradigmatic shift was central to the Queen’s address to Congress that spring. "The swift and dramatic changes in Eastern Europe over the last decade have opened great opportunity for the people of those countries. They are finding their own paths to freedom. But they are finding that those paths would have been blocked had it not been for the Atlantic alliance, standing together. If your country and mine had not stood together," declared the Queen from the lectern in the House chamber. "Let us never forget that lesson." That observation was the quintessence of the special bond forged between the United States and United Kingdom over decades. 250 years ago, the U.S. declared its independence from England. A quarter millennium later, and King Charles descended on Capitol Hill to salute America on its 250th anniversary. "Ours is a partnership born out of dispute. But no less strong for it," Charles told lawmakers. There is a rich irony that King Charles spoke to Congress in the era of the "No Kings," movement, championed by the American left. But considering how relations between the U.S. and U.K. devolved over the past few years, some Americans may be less than enthused with the King’s speech. KING CHARLES' FOOD PREFERENCES REVEALED BY FORMER ROYAL CHEF AHEAD OF TRUMP'S WHITE HOUSE STATE DINNER Ties between the two countries are frayed over the war in Iran , questions about the future of NATO and tariffs. "It's a special relati…