Jonathan Freedland

Well, there was a war between Britain and the United States, and it did culminate in British forces burning down the White House.

And that is still remembered in some quarters.

And so he was nodding to that.

And it was just those jokes that appear to be self-deprecating, in which he's having a poke at his British forebears for daring to burn down the White House, but really having a little sly dig afterwards.

at what is controversial in the United States, which is Donald Trump's rather vain plan for a ballroom to glorify his own image.

And the jokes all had that quality all the way through where he made a reference to the fact that his mother had had to be charged with resetting, putting the special back in the special relationship after there'd been a war in the Middle East.

He was referring to Suez in 1956, but he said, you know, 70 years on, who could imagine such a thing happening now?

And it's just that that deft ability that he had, I thought, which was to, yes, name the elephant in the room, but to do it in a light enough way that everyone could laugh and join together rather than being pulled apart.

I mean, a massive violation of protocol.

Every British prime minister knows, for example, that what is said in the audience with the monarch is utterly confidential and must never get out.

That's been followed by British prime ministers and it's been followed by American presidents, that convention.

And it enables the monarch to speak very candidly.

And we're only now beginning to discover that the queen really was quite focused in her political comments to world leaders, but knowing it would stay in the room.

Of course, the one person you can't trust with a confidence of any kind is Donald Trump, who immediately then goes and blabs it.

And I think that could have been very awkward for the king.

I think where he's lucky is people will assume...

You know what?

Donald Trump hears what he wants to hear.

He probably exaggerated what Charles said to him, but he may be more guarded in their private conversations from now on.

Well, it's the 250th anniversary of the... The semi-quincentennial anniversary, as Charles put it.