King Charles to reaffirm U.K.-U.S. relationship in rare address to Congress

WASHINGTON — King Charles III plans to reaffirm the long “special relationship” between the United Kingdom and the United States and their shared values ​​of democracy and freedom in a rare speech to Congress on Tuesday.

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The king will express “the highest regard and friendship of the British people to the people of the United States in this historic anniversary year,” 250 years after America declared independence from Britain, according to a Buckingham Palace official who previewed the speech.

Charles’ remarks come as the transatlantic alliance is strained by President Donald Trump’s war against Iran. Trump lashed out at British Prime Minister Keir Starmer for not joining the United States in the initial attack on Iran, calling him “no Winston Churchill.” The president has a closer personal relationship with the King and Queen Camilla, who hosted Trump at a state dinner at Windsor Castle in September.

Despite the difficult times, the king will say in his roughly 20-minute speech on Tuesday that the United States and the United Kingdom can defend and reaffirm their long-standing shared democratic values ​​to create security and prosperity for themselves and the world, the official said.

The story of the United States and the United Kingdom over the past 250 years is one of “reconciliation and renewal” and “one of the greatest alliances in human history,” Charles will say.

On Tuesday, the king will discuss the assassination attempt that occurred Saturday evening during the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner. Charles and Camilla called the Trumps to express their concern and sympathy after the shooting, a source familiar with the matter told NBC News earlier this week.

The King will deliver his speech from the dais of the House of Representatives, where President Franklin D. Roosevelt addressed Congress in a speech after the attack on Pearl Harbor as America entered World War II. A few weeks later, Winston Churchill would also address Congress to express the unity of the United States and the United Kingdom in the war effort, but from the Senate chamber.

The only other British monarch to address a joint session of Congress was the king’s mother, Queen Elizabeth II, who came to the Capitol in 1991.