EXCLUSIVE: King Charles ‘dreading’ Trump trip amid huge pressure – ‘He hasn’t done this before’

As King Charles prepares to meet with President Trump amid growing tensions over the war in Iran, a royal expert says Queen Camilla’s calming influence will be crucial

King Charles is preparing to meet with President Trump amid growing tensions over the war in Iran(Image: AFP via Getty Images)

King Charles’s upcoming visit to the US to meet President Donald Trump has snowballed into the “biggest test of his reign” so far. The monarch and Queen Camilla will land in the States on April 27 and their schedule includes a private tea with the president and First Lady Melania Trump, but comes amid ongoing and growing tensions over the war in Iran.

According to former royal editor Duncan Larcombe the King is likely “privately dreading” the trip – despite President Trump describing him as “a friend” and a “great gentleman” – and will benefit from the “calming influence” of Camilla.

“This is one of, if not the biggest tests of King Charles since he became monarch, because a historically special relationship is in a perilous situation,” he said. “Donald Trump is openly criticising the Prime Minister, which is something that Charles hasn’t had to cope with before.”

 

Donald Trump will host King Charles and Queen Camilla for a private tea after criticising the Prime Minister(Image: AFP via Getty Images)

 

He continued, “Donald Trump is his own force and we know how much the royal connection means to him, so the pressure’s on Charles to make this a success, definitely.”

Tensions have been particularly high between Trump and UK prime minister Sir Keir Starmer, with the president calling the UK’s approach to the Iran war “terrible” and labelling the PM as “no Winston Churchill”.

Trump expressed his frustration at the Prime Minister’s refusal to join the war in a recent interview with Sky News, saying, “It’s the relationship where when we asked them for help, they were not there. When we needed them, they were not there. When we didn’t need them, they were not there. And they still aren’t there.”

Mr Starmer has since reiterated his position, telling the House of Commons : “I’m not going to change my mind, I’m not going to yield, it is not in our national interest to join this war and we will not do so.”

Sir Keir Starmer told PMQs he would not ‘change his mind’ about entering the war in Iran(Image: House of Commons/PA Wire)

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey called on the PM at Prime Minister’s Questions last week to call off the royal state visit, which will mark the start of the 250th anniversary of American independence.

“President Trump is one of the most unpredictable people we have seen on the world stage and I hope he does not embarrass our monarch,” he warned.

Duncan told the Mirror that Charles will be focussed on performing some traditional royal soft-diplomacy rather than getting embroiled in debates about Trump and and his UK counterpart.

“It’s very hard not to think that privately, King Charles is probably dreading this visit,” he said. Trump is bamboozled by the royal family, that’s for certain, but whether the feeling is mutual or not, I think we can probably draw our own conclusions….

“On the royal tours Charles has done with her so far, he has been more laid back, so Camilla definitely seems to have a calming influence on him. I think it’s good that she’s going to America with him, definitely.”

The King and Queen met with the President and First Lady Melania Trump at Windsor Castle in September 2025(Image: PA)

The other issue casting a shadow on the trip is the ongoing scandal surrounding Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

US congressman Ro Khanna wrote to the king on March 30 to request that he “privately meet with survivors of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell’s abuse, so they may speak to you directly about the ways powerful individuals and institutions failed them. Survivors want this meeting.”

He added that “this is not solely an American matter”, and that Epstein’s network “had significant ties to the United Kingdom through Ghislaine Maxwell, through Epstein’s relationships with British public figures, and through the social and political circles in which he operated.”

Duncan says any such meeting is “unlikely to happen because the last thing Charles wants to be talking about is Epstein.”