Good afternoon from Washington, where the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner feels like a distant memory, as the cavorting and chaos of the weekend was swiftly replaced by the majesty of the royal visit to Washington by King Charles III.
The pageant kicked off with tea at the British ambassador’s residence, a lush property with a large garden graced by wildflowers and a Japanese maple planted by the royal family on a prior visit to the United States.
Attendees lined up on the lawn to meet Charles and his wife, Camilla, as they slowly made their way through the crowd. Charles clutched a gin and tonic; I’m told he spilled half of it on his pinstripes before an aide grabbed the glass off him.
My colleague James Reginato was there—check out his dispatch from the proceedings.
Party Animals, meanwhile, attended the king’s speech before Congress, which was a surprisingly colorful affair packed with jokes and allusions to turbulence in the US-UK alliance that had both sides of the aisle eating out of Charles’s curiously plump hands.
President Trump has been obsessed with the royal family since he watched Elizabeth II’s coronation from his mother’s knee when he was six. Could that explain why he’s operating more as a potentate than a president in this term in office?
This week I dig into the second reign of King Trump, and what his obsession with the monarchy means for his next few years in office.
Also mentioned in this issue: Piers Morgan, Christian Turner, Raheem Kassam, Harry Cole, Donald Trump Jr., James Comey, Peter Mandelson, Hillary Clinton, David Axelrod, Ross Worthington, and more.
Got tips? Hit the Party Animals hotline: aidan_mclaughlin@condenast.com. Or text me—my personal number is 917-817-8266. Complaints will be buried beneath the wildflowers at the British ambassador’s residence. Praise will be woven into the next king’s speech before a joint session of Congress.
