Dem
47
GOP
53
King Charles III pulled out all the stops to shower Donald Trump with pageantry at Windsor Castle. His prime minister, Keir Starmer, no doubt asked the King to make Trump feel like a king-for-a-day. Lots of people on horses, lots of folks with furry hats, lots of red carpets, lots of gilded rooms, and especially lots of grandeur. Trump likes that. He might even snap a few photos of the castle's interior on his phone and then instruct the architects planning his new grand ballroom to make it look like the photos. A few times, Trump stepped out ahead of the King, which is one of those royal no-no's, but Charles was quick enough to make a gesture suggesting he wanted that, to avoid a ruckus, like the one in 2019 when Trump stepped in front of Queen Elizabeth. You can see from the photo how much Trump is enjoying his trip. He's probably thinking: "How can these guys see where they are going?"
He might also have been thinking: "On the other hand, these hats make them look taller and they are probably much more comfortable than the lifts I wear in my shoes to gain an extra inch. I wonder if I could take one home as a souvenir."
It should be noted that Trump will be staying at Windsor Castle, which is not in London, but is in a smallish town of 30,000 people 25 miles west of Central London. It has no power and no real importance. It is just good for ceremonies at the castle, which is much more ornate than Buckingham Palace in London. Buckingham is actually kind of dreary inside and if Trump were brought there might feel it wasn't sufficiently royal for him. After all, the toilets are not made of gold. No one thinks the 1000-year-old Windsor Castle is dreary.
Nevertheless, while the King was doing his best to make Trump feel good, thousands of protesters in Central London were marching, some holding banners saying "No to racism, no to Trump":
Some of the protesters were a little bit less friendly:
Tuesday evening, some people decided that the castle would make a good screen for an impromptu short video:
The local police apparently didn't like the show and arrested four people in conjunction with the images.
Nevertheless, unlike in some Western countries (see below), there is still unlimited free speech in the U.K. Yesterday evening, Channel 4 planned a 5-hour special with an unbroken catalog of hundreds of Trump's lies. The chief content officer of Channel 4, Ian Katz, said that he hoped Trump would watch some of it after the state dinner. (V)