What to expect from the king’s address to Congress
Since the king’s visit is meant to mark the United States’ 250th anniversary, Charles is likely to speak about the relationship between the two countries, particularly during and after World War II. The king, who plays a different role in the U.K. than does the prime minister and generally isn’t involved in day-to-day governing, may rely greatly on history to inform his speech.
“I expect the speech to be at a rather high-level and my expectation is that it will be somewhat historical — acknowledging the United States came from a revolution against his country, but then how we’ve sort of overcome that,” said Max Bergmann, director of the Europe, Russia, and Eurasia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
The question will be, Bergmann said, whether the king hints at issues like human rights and freedoms that the U.S. and U.K. supported together after World War II, and whether the king hints at anything that could be interpreted as a criticism of the current administration.
